Don't just Die
by Summers Sky
Summary: Cleo Ivy has a promise to keep, a promise that forces her to push down her fears and face her enemies with confidence. But how can anybody stay brave when their District partner wants them dead after an event that ruined their reputation? To make matters worse, Cleo's District partner is the leader of the Careers; at what cost will Cleo keep her promise? NEWLEY EDITED R&R PLEASE
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: Hai everyone! You may be wondering what this story is doing back up on the Fan fiction list, well, I re-read this a little while ago and I was a bit disappointed because I felt there wasn't enough detail and Cleo was on the verge of becoming far to dependent on other people. So, I decided to edit this story and improve all the details. For those of you who have read this story before, I had included more detail and more explanations, also, Cleo is a lot more independent and her relationship with different characters is a bit different. I have kept a lot of the story the same, just added detail, improved punctuation and corrected the spelling (and all those annoying typos.) I hope you enjoy the story more than before, and if you're reading this for the first time, I really hope you enjoy it! Thank-you for clicking this story and I'd very much appreciate it if you'd give me a little review, after all, a happy author is a good author. **

Its cold when I wake up, but then again, when isn't it? The fire from last night has long died out and my brothers haven't bothered to make a new one. We never bother to do anything today- Reaping day. Its ok for them, they only need to have the odds in their favor this year and they won't ever be in the games again. I'm not so lucky. I slowly ease myself out of bed and put on a dress that once belonged to my mother. It's really quite beautiful, a rosy pink dress with frills and lace. I only ever wear it once a year at the reaping; I don't know why we bother dressing nicely for an event where people get picked for their own funeral. I'm late waking up because the sun is already midway across the sky casting its light in through the dirty window pane. I drag my fingers through my long, dark brown hair and pull it up into a high pony tail using a red ribbon which used to be a shirt. I open the door of our cabin and step out into the woods. A small child with long blond hair runs past me, her mother jogs to catch up, they're both smiling and laughing which is strange considering what event is about to occur in under an hour. I always think of my parents on this day, what would they be thinking if they were both alive? I always seem to notice the parents of the children who are picked in the reaping other than the actual tributes themselves, they always anticipate the worst-everyone does- but when it actually happens they always seem to break down. My own mother died giving birth to me, my father was crushed in a logging accident when I was about 5. I don't really remember my father very well, only fuzzy distance memories which I'm unsure, are real or just a dream. A tall, blond boy walks up to me, he smiles but his blue eyes portray his real emotions- fear, worry and a small spark of hope.

"All ready Cleo?" He asks me,

"As ready as I'll ever be, where's Kovu?" I ask,

"Already at the square, which we should hurry along to, we wouldn't want to be late now would we?" Diego takes my hand and we walk together towards the town square. Me and Kovu met Diego when we lived at the orphanage. I remember the day perfectly; I was only about 7 when a horrible boy pulled my pony tail and took away my piece of bread. I don't really know where Kovu was at the time, most likely he was being punished for stealing food for me, Diego hit the boy and gave me back my bread, he and Kovu quickly become best friends and all three of us looked after each other while we lived in the orphanage. Diego isn't my actual brother, not like Kovu, but he's family and I love him to bits.

"Hopefully who ever chosen will win and District 7 will finally get a bit of food." I nod, but it's not likely. A tribute from District 7 won't ever win because the Capitol secretly trains District 1 and 2 citizens-the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Don't you just love how completely fair the Capitol is?

"Well this is it, good luck." I say, giving Diego a hug. I break away from him, sign in and go and stand next to the other 15 year old girls. A hand touches my shoulder; I turn around and look at the worried face of Kovu.

"Good luck 'lil Sis." He reaches down and gives me a massive hug.

"Hey don't worry about me, I can look after myself." Kovu smiles releasing me from his hug,

"I know Cle, you tell me it enough. _Don't go hunting all the food; don't go lifting up the heavy stuff, just 'cause I 'ma girl don't mean I can't do all the stuff you can!" _I roll my eyes,

"If you're trying to imitate me, you're not doing a very good job."

"I disagree; it's what you sound like." I roll my eyes again, but a smile is plastered across my face, it's almost impossible to stay annoyed at Kovu. A red headed girl blushes as she watches Kovu stroll off to go and stand beside Diego. Kovu has that effect on most girls. He's handsome I suppose, dark brown hair and big brown eyes, tanned from long days in the sun, but I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend. Maybe that'll change soon? I turn my attention to the stage, quickly put together for the reaping. A fat man wobbles towards a mic, his sliver beard has been curled like whiskers and the remaining bits of hair on his head plaited. He looks stupid, but then again, most Capitol people do. Zion Lumberton, the biggest clown in what seems like the whole world, is unfortunately the District 7 escort. I hate him, he's annoying, rude and inappropriate-I mean, who actually try's to make a joke out of The Hunger Games? Zion Lumberton, that's who. He taps the mic, sending echoes around the square, I groan loudly, a girl next to me smiles and nods her head in silent agreement. Everybody hates this man.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome." Zion grins, looking around with his beady black eyes. "Before we find out the tributes for this year's hunger games, let us remind ourselves about why we have this event." The mayor of District 7 steps forward and repeats the long treaty of treason. We rebelled against the capitol. We lost. They take away two children from twelve Districts to show us there's nothing we can do when they slaughter us all. What else is there to know? The mayor sits down, awaiting the names of the children who will no longer be in her district.

"Without further delay, let us announce the name of our girl tribute. Zion walks to a huge glass bowl with thousands of names in it. I can't help the fluttering feeling in my stomach, I know my name isn't in there very many times because Kovu and Diego have banned me from entering my name any more times for food, as Diego always says, 'I'd rather have a rumbling tum than an empty home'. Yeah, Diego's full of odd little phrases like that, it might make more of an impact if it rhymed. He rummages through the pieces of paper, picks one up and waves it in the air. He shakes his head and puts it back; grinning like it's the funniest thing ever. The crowd sighs, he does this every year and it will never be funny no matter how hard he try's. This man is picking which person will get killed on live television, not who might win a fancy new house. Finally he picks a name and walks back to the mic,

"May the odds be ever in your favor," His eyes scan the girls of District 7, slowly he unfolds the paper. Somehow I knew which un-lucky person's name would be read out, even before he spoke the words.

"Cleopatra Ivy!" I nod slowly, taking a few steps forward, surprising myself about how utterly calm I felt. Suddenly a voice screamed from the crowds, Kovu.

"No. No. NO! Please, not my sister! Volunteer someone. Please-" A peacekeeper quickly walks towards Kovu, my brother has a bad past record of beating up people in anger. Kovu wriggles away from the peacekeepers hold, his brown eyes filled with anger.

"Get off me, your all dirty murderers. She's going to die; my little sister is going to die!" The peacekeeper calls for reinforcement and Kovu is dragged away from the crowds, kicking and screaming trying to attack his peacekeepers. Recovering from my brother's outburst, I make my way to the stage and look across the town square. I spot Diego. He's staring into the distance, his blue eyes clouded in fear but not seeing anything. I hold my head up high, I know from watching other tributes that you must never _ever _cry when your name is picked. Zion picks up a name from the boys glass bowl without messing about with his ongoing joke.

"Dandy Robinson," I exhale for a fraction of a second, it's not my brothers. But then my heart starts to pound because it's Dandy. Dandy Robinson- the boy who wants my brothers and me dead. Dandy used to work in the woods with Kovu and Diego, organizing pieces of mahogany and oak that would be sent to the capitol and made into a table. The year they were all working together was a tough one; we had no food and no belongings-not that we have many now. Kovu and Diego started stealing money from the peacekeepers that watched over us and one day a peacekeeper noticed his money had been stolen from his coat that was left in the equipment shed. Well after that there was a massive search, and quick thinking Diego placed the money he had stolen into someone else's work clothes so he wouldn't get in trouble, that someone else was Dandy. He was instantly fired from his job and given 50 lashes in front of the whole District, he has been forever known as a dirty, lying thief ever since, all because of my brothers. My stomach twists into unnatural shapes as I watch Dandy saunter to the stage. He's huge. Tall as well as muscular, his blond hair flattened against his head, his hazel eyes cold. Zion smiles, examining Dandy, I think he was expecting a thin weedy boy because of his name.

"Ladies and gentlemen; your 22nd Hunger Games tributes: Cleopatra Ivy and Dandy Robinson." A peacekeeper grabs my arm and I'm shoved of stage into the justice building.

…

The room is nice and cozy, plush sofas in a material I could never name. The walls have different paintings on them of relaxing and soothing things like purple meadow flowers and snowy pines, the floors are a thick, white carpet. I slip of my battered leather shoes and dig my toes in the fur. The oak door opens and Diego steps into the room. He walks towards me and sits down by my feet, like a dog sitting by its master. We don't speak; instead Diego takes my hand and traces circles over in. Diego has always struggled with showing his emotions because his mother abandoned him at the orphanage, simply saying she couldn't cope anymore. Nobody ever saw her again. The time I have with him ticks away, after a long minute he looks up at me.

"Don't just die Cleo, don't be like those tributes that freeze to death and don't even bother trying. You're a clever kid; you can find food and water. Please Cleo, all I ask is you try and come home." My eyes fill up,

"I promise." I say my voice barely a whisper. Diego returns to his sitting position until his time is up and he has to leave me. He's quickly replaced by Kovu. I can't help a small smile, after the peaceful tranquility of Diego; Kovu is like a hurricane, a wildfire and a tsunami all at the same time. I stand up,

"What on earths happened to your face?" Kovu shrugs,

"I don't care." I brush the side of my brother's face, its bright red and it'll leave a nasty bruise.

"Did a Peacekeeper hit you?"

"Yeah, but I hardly felt it." I sigh,

"Well, that's to be expected, you did make a scene."

"There was no need for violence though." I raise an eyebrow and sit down. Kovu sits down next to me, pushing me onto his lap. I wrap my arms round his neck. I feel just like a little five year old again, when our father died and we had to sit in the dirty office of the orphanage waiting to get a room. I've always felt comforted by Kovu, my pain always slightly eased whenever he's around. Kovu curls a strand of my hair around his finger, smiling. I remember a time when I tried to teach him how to braid it, he tied it up into a knot and I spent an hour untying it. How does anyone actually manage to tie hair into a knot when they braid it?

"You have such lovely hair. It's just like Mother's, or how I remember it to be. She'd be proud of you, Cleo." That's when the tears fall, Kovu looks up at me, concern etched across his face.

"Shh, don't cry." He wipes away the tears on my cheek and pulls me into a tight hug, hushing and rocking me back and forth like you would a baby.

"I might not die you know?" I whisper,

"I know Cleo, I know…" but he doesn't know he's preparing himself for the worst. I can tell by the way his voice sounds that he's on the verge of a breakdown. I have never in my 15 years of life seen Kovu cry; he has always been so strong. The door opens again and a peacekeeper grabs Kovu's shirt. Kovu struggles against his grip and gives me one last desperate hug.

"Just try and come home, Cle, please try and come home." The peacekeeper tugs impatiently at Kovu's arm and his is lead out of the room. Not before I see the tears rolling down his tanned face. No one else comes to visit me, I'm not exactly well known so I wasn't expecting anyone else. I live in the cabin the loggers are given and hunt in the woods. I don't bother going to school, there isn't much point in education when you're starving to death. In fact, I only ever go to the main village to buy some bread or for the reaping. Another peacekeeper walks into the room; I stand up and follow him out of the justice building and into a car. Dandy sits next to me in the back, and instantly it feels like the temperature has dropped, I can practically see ice forming between us. The car door opens and a tall, black haired guy sits between us, good, I don't want to sit so close to Dandy. I remember the guy vaguely; he's a victor, our mentor. Zion turns round and smiles at us,

"All ready? I have a feeling these games are going to be special. I mean look at him, he's strong. Perhaps District 7 will have a victor this year?" Dandy smiles, showing his white teeth, a shiver runs down my spine, how could a smile look so sinister?

"Well, best be off. You are simply going to _love _the capitol." I stare out of the window, tuning Zion out. I know I won't love the capitol, how could anyone love the place where they're going to die?


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: Well, no one reviewed my story, but that's alright. Considering I already edited everything I might just as well post all the chapters even if no one's reading. If you actually are reading this, thanks for clicking and you'll make my day if you review ;D**

I pick up a piece of bread, chewing it slowly. I hate this place. The train ride was bad enough but the Capitol is much, much worst. Bright colours that sting the eyes, cheering crowds and we only arrived here last night. Everything seems so fake and artificial. The buildings are tall and metallic, they tower into the sky and loom over you, trust the Capitol to create buildings that make you seem small and inadequate. The building we are currently staying in is shaped like a dome with a tall tower through the middle, like a candle on a cake you used to get on your 13th birthday in the orphanage. I glance around me, shifting uncomfortably in the silence at the breakfast table. Zion Lumberton watches Dandy like a hawk, every small movement is noticed. Our escort grins,

"You eat very well Dandy, almost as properly as me." I scowl and sink lower into my chair. It's been this way for a day now. Dandy gets all the praise; no one so much as looks at me, not that I care. The previous victor, James, catches my eye and smiles. I quite like James, he's shy and quiet but fair, and he has told Zion time and time again not to show favoritism. I have begun to notice small things about my company; Zion is forever rabbiting on about the most unimportant things. James never, ever praises us, not on the way we look or how well he thinks we will do. And Dandy, well Dandy gives me sly looks; I guess he still hasn't forgiven my brothers for tarnishing his name.

"You shall meet your stylists today; your prep team will start on you after breakfast so hurry up and eat," Zion says. I deliberately pick up another roll and eat even slower; seeing as I'm going to die in a few days I might as well make an impression. Zion stares at me, his jaw clenching.

"Cleopatra, I didn't know you were that uneducated that you were unaware of what eat faster means." Dandy snorts with laughter, giving me a dark look.

"I am perfectly well educated thank-you very much." I take a bite of my bread roll and chew slowly; giving Zion a snide look I've learnt so well from Diego. James watches me, his dark eyes following my movements. I stare him out; there's no way he's going to make me feel uncomfortable. James nods slightly, smiling.

"She can take her time, Zion. You mustn't rush eating." Zion sighs very loudly but he doesn't argue, I think he fears our mentor slightly.

"Well Cleopatra, can you eat just a little _tiny _bit faster?" Zion pleads, I shake my head.

"You mustn't rush eating." Zion drops his fork on the table in annoyance.

"Just eat faster, must you make things so difficult Cleopatra?"

"Don't call me that, my names Cleo. I haven't been called Cleopatra since I was 5 years old!"

"You just got called it, so that's a lie." Dandy smirks; I tighten my grip on the bread. Zion laughs,

"He has a point. This one doesn't miss anything, do you Dandy?" Zion smacks Dandy's back, his piggy eyes glinting. I roll my eyes, as soon as Dandy talks Zion trips over himself to agree, Dandy could say his head was made of cheese and Zion would believe him. A side door opens and a lady with long emerald curls bounces into the dining cart room.

"Are you all finished because we don't have much time to work with?" Zion stands up, dabbing his mouth.

"Very sorry Artesia, yes we're all done."

"I'm still eating thank-you very much." I exclaim James places his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't be so difficult, it doesn't get you any sponsors. Besides, you showed him you're not going to be pushed around." I blinked in surprise; did James give me a small compliment? I dropped the piece of bread I was eating back on my plate, hoping someone would eat it later because I hated waste, I really doubt anyone would.

"Follow me darling," Artesia says and she walks through a wooden door. Reluctantly, I follow.

…

I lie pinned down to a chair made of squishy white material as I am attacked with tweezers, hairspray and ointments.

"Stay still please!" The green haired woman, Artesia, says. I lie back against the seat, staring up at the plain white ceiling. There's three of them and only one of me, I'm out numbered otherwise I might try and escape. The sensation of hair's being pulled from my arms one by one seems more tortuous than anything the tributes can do to me. A woman smiles down at me while she yanks hairs from my nose and makes my eyes water. She looks ridiculous. Her hair has been dyed neon yellow and pulled up into a twisty plait right on top of her head, secured with a bobble in the shape of a sun. She has bright orange skin and around her eyes are little tattoos of sun rays that stretch down both her cheeks bones and disappear behind her ears.

"You have nice hair, we won't need any extensions. Ooh, needs a little cut though. Ugh, oh I do hate split ends, they are an utter annoyance." A man says, he reaches down into his tool belt of horror and pulls out a pair of scissors. He snips at stands of my hair and I watch in despair as they flutter to the floor like leaves. The sun woman notices the frightened look on my face.

"Aww, Sweet, it's alright, Marco is a good hair stylist; he'll make your locks look healthier than ever." I smile, nodding; I can only pray she's right. Artesia walks back up to me, a green glop in her hand; she begins spreading it across my face.

"You have dry skin my darling, this will sort it right out." There's a slight tingling sensation on my face that makes me want to rub it right off.

"Oh my days, we haven't introduced ourselves! My names Hydria, this is Marco and Artesia." The yellow woman giggles, putting her tweezers down and picking up a scrap of weird looking paper.

"Its necessary darling, you have more hair than a gorilla!" Hydria smooth's down the paper on my leg and rips it off, I scream aloud. Marco smiles, a lock of his multicolored hair falls across his nose.

"Hurts don't it?" I close my eyes, waiting for it to be finished. After about two hours of ripping, tugging, pulling and moisturizing a man walks into the room. He's tall, very tall and thin. He has inky black hair and dark shadows under his eyes, his skin is as pale as the pieces of paper Zion writes on-the real paper, not the awful burning stuff.

"You may leave now." The man says the prep team scurries away.

"Stand up; I need to look at you." I do as I'm told; I really don't think I'd have any other choice. This man scares me, not just the way he looks but the way he talks, he radiates power. The man walks around, studying me.

"Sit." He demands, I lower myself back down on the chair.

"Hmm, you're an interesting child. This is good, I like a challenge."

"What do you mean by interesting?" I ask the man smiles mysteriously but he doesn't say. Eventually he stands, walking towards a room and returning with an outfit. He holds it up to me, it's actually quite nice. A long dress, the top half is green and puffs out, like leaves; the bottom is tight fitting and has the exact design of a tree trunk.

"We shall dye your hair green; I will back comb it and arrange it around your head like leaves." The man walks up to me, lifting my long brown hair and shifting it round my head.

"I think we will have a headband of leaves, a small center point in my magical creation." He drops my hair, letting it gently settle around my shoulders. I stare at him nervously, I don't like the idea of him dying my hair green and making me look like a tree.

"Yes, it will be perfect, you'll look perfect." His black eyes shine making him look like a maniac. "Close your eyes, this masterpiece will take time!"

…

I grip the side of the chariot, my heart beating so loud I can hear it in my ears. District 1 ride out into the dark, their silver light fading away. Dandy stands tall and proud, he's wearing the same outfit as me except he has a jumpsuit instead of a dress. I stare straight ahead, trying to forget I'm on an unsteady chariot that could tip over at any moment. I try and distract myself by looking at the small details on our chariot. Two horses are standing in front fastened to the chariot with green leather straps. They have been dyed green and their manes are all knotted and covered in leaves. I look around behind me, trying to look at my competitors but the chariot rocks dangerously and my stomach flips in fear, I quickly stand up straight, facing forward. Dandy chuckles darkly,

"Scared of a rocking chariot, Cleopatra?" I scowl, what's wrong with not wanting to fall out and crack my head open on the concrete floor beneath us? Suddenly the chariot lurches forward and we ride out into the darkness. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust while a voice announces our arrival. We trot forward down a brightly lit runway; on either side is the cheering crown, dressed like wild clowns in their capitol fashion. I swallow loudly, my throat suddenly very dry. I look forward, only to catch sight of myself on the huge screen up ahead. My hair looks like I've been dragged through the trees kicking and screaming my skin has an odd glow that looks almost alien and my eyes-they have been outlined in green and shimmer, but that's not what frightens me. Even with the make-up, I look dull and scared, just like those children you see in the arena who are about to get slashed to pieces by a tributes sword. I try to smile but it looks all wrong, weak, and fake. I start to think about my brothers, they will be watching this, what will they be thinking? I'd promised them not to be the girl who dies without even trying. I stop smiling and scowl, trying my hardest to look fierce. Too late, the camera's already flickered to Dandy. He's not scared. He really does look fierce. He smiles, a slow, sly grin that gets the people in the crowd clapping. I know the smile well; he uses it whenever he walks past Diego and Kovu in the District square. He has been plotting to get them in trouble with the peacekeepers for so long after the whole stealing business. Unluckily for him, Diego knows his plan and he avoids anything that might look shifty.

"Wow look at him, he looks scary."

"He could win, you never know!" Dandy grins even wider, showing his perfect white teeth. The camera focuses on him for a few extra seconds before moving to the District 8 tributes. Dandy looks down at me,

"You looked terrified, Cleopatra. Too much of an easy target, it must be hard for you, being the girl who'll die definitely first." I clench my fists; I'd love to show him how much of an easy target I am. I know I have a good punch; I've given Kovu bruises before. But I don't, it's against the rules.

"Shut up, Dandy." I snap, he laughs blowing hot breath in my face.

"I might team up with you if you weren't so small and vulnerable, second thoughts, I'd never team up with you. I don't like your attitude, you've been giving me the evils ever since we left District 7 and I want to know why!" Dandy turns to face me, his hazel eyes flaming.

"Dandy, you've always hated my family after what happened. You can't actually accept me to like you and act like your friend when you're always plotting to probably get me and my brothers killed." Dandy laughed,

"At least half of my wish will come true; I'll get to kill you. That will be sweet compensation for the times somebody has walked past me and clutched their money tighter. Your brothers stopped my income of money and nobody will employ me because they think I am a lying thief. Considering I can't make them pay, I'll make you pay instead." Dandy's threat sent a cold shiver down my spine, it might have been easier to take if he had been angry about it, but he wasn't, his voice was eerily calm, like he had asked me for a cup of flour instead of telling me he was going to make me suffer when he killed me. I grip the side of the chariot, my knuckles turning white with the pressure. I feel sick, maybe it's because the chariot is rocking or perhaps it's because I am so terrified. I take a deep breath, _stay calm, do it for Kovu and Diego, they don't want to see me frightened. _I force a smile on my lips and whisper under my breath,

"I'm not going to let you kill me that easily Dandy. My brothers ruined your life but you will not end mine, I will fight you with the last breath in my body and if your so hell bent on killing me, I'll make sure you'll have to break a sweat." Dandy chuckles softly, it's all a game for him. I grind my teeth together in annoyance. The camera flickers to me once again, I look up, shocked. The girl I saw before has disappeared. With the anger and fear sparking in my eyes and my clenched jaw, I look tough, almost wild. Not an easy kill, but not a massive threat. I don't look the type of tribute who will die on the first day. Good, because I will _not _be that person.

"You're a good actress Cleopatra, I'll give you that. You can go ahead and pretend your tough, but deep down, we both know you're nothing more than a terrified little girl who relies on her brothers for everything. If you didn't have them two around you would have died years ago. But unluckily for you, there not around." My face pales because he's telling the truth, I do need my brothers and I would have died without them. No-I shouldn't think like that. I can do this, I can fight, I can defend myself, and I can win The Hunger Games if I really put my mind to it. I close my eyes, trying to make the words sink in, trying to convince myself that those lies are something I can really accomplish.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Thanks guys for reading this story. I looked at the stats and some people are actually clicking and having a 'lil read. It means a lot that you've pick my story and hopefully are enjoying it. But, alas, that poor review button has seen no attention lately. Poor thing…I sure wish someone would cheer him up. Thanks for reading guys! Love ya 3**

A knife whizzes past my head hitting the bull's eye on a human target, I turn around to see who threw it. A small brown haired boy who looks almost like a weasel, he frowns at me staring and throws another knife. I look back at the berries station I'm working on,

"Come on, which ones are poison?" The instructor asks for the third time. I pick up a pale red one and put it near my mouth. The instructors hand fly's up and knocks the berry away.

"That's deadly you stupid girl! You'd be dead in less than 5 minutes if you ate that." 23 pairs of eyes turn to stare at me, I look down, embarrassed. The instructor takes a deep breath,

"Its mighty good job you came to me. Right, these ones are poisoning..." I tune out as the instructor drones on about berries. I'm angry with myself; of course I knew that was poison! Taxus, it grows all around the woods in District 7 and I've always known it could easily kill me. Diego told me to avoid it when he showed me all the edible berries and roots in the woods when I was 10 and we left the orphanage. I've always been extra cautious when it comes to food I find around, I always bring it back to the cabin for Diego or Kovu to look at first before I eat it, just in case it really is poisonous or rancid, I would much rather be hungry than sick from food poisoning.

"Are you even listening to me?" The instructor asks I know I'm really testing his patience.

"Sorry, I'm just...well...really distracted." I sigh, looking down at the plants. The instructor smiles weakly,

"It's ok darling, I understand. It must be so tough watching all these kids who can chop the dummies in half with an axe or shoot right on target, when all you can do is run and hide." I'm annoyed now and it must show, because the instructors face softens and he pats my arm.

"Oh darling, I didn't mean to offend you. The best you can do is to learn what poison might be in some berries and what's ok to eat. You know, 25% of all deaths in the arena are from mal nutrition and a further 10% of all deaths come directly from people being poisoned, it's a terrible death…"

"I know how bad poisoning is. My brother told me all about it when I was young so I wouldn't get poisoned by things living around my house. I gather all the food for my family, so I know exactly what I can and can't eat, and I have never ever been wrong before, _ever!_" I stand up and walk away, I know its ridiculous acting like a spoilt toddler but his comments really upset me. Everyone thinks I'm going to die. Zion is forever commenting about how puny my muscles are and how I once tripped up over my own feet when I was filling my plate up with food. I suppose I shouldn't let Zion get to me, especially considering his muscles are fat and if he tripped up over his own feet he'd probably need a crane to lift him back up to his feet. I look around, trying to decide what I should do next. The only reason I chose to start a poison detecting activity was so I could look around at the other tributes without being detected. I notice two people huddled beside a fire making test, they both have dark hair and ashy coloured skin, I consider going to join them but quickly dismiss the thought, it's best not to get friendly with competition. I glance around, noticing the spear throwing activity is free, I shrug my shoulders and walk over, you never know, I could be a natural spear thrower. The instructor looks shocked to see me there but she shows me how to hold the spear properly and lets me throw. I'm off target. Really off target. I miss the bull's eye dummy by about 2 metres and nearly behead a tall dark haired guy.

"I'm so sorry!" I yell walking up to the knot station. He turns to look at me, smiling.

"That's ok, but I wouldn't throw spears if I were you. No point in killing me just yet,"

"Don't worry; I won't try throwing any weapons ever again. That could have been nasty." The boy grins,

"It's a good tactic though, kill off your competition and pretend it was an accident. Are you sure you weren't trying to kill me?" My eyes widen at his accusation, the boy laughs.

"I was just joking, it was just a joke!" he holds his hands up in front of his chest in a surrendering gesture, I raise an eyebrow, grinning.

"Damm, I really should have thought about doing that, I could have killed off some of my threats." I look behind me at Dandy who is standing beside three other vicious looking tributes; an involuntary shiver runs down my spine. The boy in front of me notices reaction and leans down, whispering in my ear.

"Do you know that guy?" I nod, but I don't go into any detail. "It looks like he joined the Careers- not very good for the likes of us."

"I know that's all we need. Dandy is a maniac as it is." I say, remembering his threat to me on the chariot. The boy smiles again, nodding. He sits back down, picking up his rope and continuing to tie a knot. I pick up the spear that I accidently threw at him and turned to leave.

"Oh, my names Rain by the way."

"I'm Cleo," Rain's eyes glitter

"Oh I already knew that hopeless-at-throwing-spears girl. If you don't mind, I need to tie some more knots until I'm the knot master." Rain picks up his rope for me to examine; it looks more like a tangled mess than a knot. A warm smile spreads across his face, enlightening his blue-green eyes.

"Yeah-good luck with that," I look around the room for a station where I won't kill anyone and walk over to a camouflage table. I sit down, crossing my legs and swirl mud on my arm. The instructor is a tiny copper haired girl, she looks about twelve. She sits down next to me and teaches me how to design leave patterns.

"Good strategy, hide like a mouse in the leaves." A voice sneers down at me; I look up meeting the cold hazel eyes of Dandy.

"What do you want?" I demand. I had recently decided that I was going to act more like Kovu whenever I was around Dandy. I would be harsh, blunt and at times vicious, maybe then Dandy might stop thinking I'm an easy kill. The blonde haired girl standing beside Dandy giggles.

"Feisty one you are, all bark definitely no bite." I want to throw mud at her perfect blonde curls but I know that will just make me their number one enemy.

"So this is your district partner? She's not worth killing, Dandy. She'll end up starving to death," A massive red headed boy growls, Dandy turns to face him.

"I know that, do you think I'm stupid Felix?" The red headed guy shakes his head, fear crossing his face. "This girl has a bad attitude she deserves to pay for it."

"I haven't done anything wrong!" I snap, standing up.

"You know what you did wrong Cleo," Dandy says, voice completely calm.

"I didn't do anything to you; my brothers did about 2 years ago. It's in the past Dandy, why can't you just forget about it. I'm not the one you're angry at, it's Diego, he was the one who stole the money and planted it in your coat. And he didn't even mean to do it!"

"He was covering up stealing money for you, so he could buy food for you. So in actual fact, you are to blame for what happened."

"How am I, I wasn't even there!" The two people standing beside Dandy watch our disagreement with curious eyes, they weren't expecting a confrontation and they were enjoying it. Dandy takes a step towards me; he leans down so his face is on the same level as mine. His hazel eyes bore into my own, I never actually realized before how similar our eye colour really was, perhaps the reason for that was I hated to look at Dandy. I glared at him, refusing to be intimidated by his presence although I felt a thin film of sweat across my neck and my heart was beating in my chest faster than a humming bird's wing.

"You know Cleopatra. I really don't like your attitude, at least now I know where you get it from. Those so called brothers of yours are a bad influence."

"What do you mean so called? They are my brothers." Dandy smiles, showing his white teeth-I swear he does it on purpose to freak me out.

"You know you're pathetic." I say before he can interrupt me with another onslaught of threats. "The reason you're so mad at me is because I'm not lying down and letting you walk all over me. You hate being told what to do and you sure as hell don't like it if anyone stands up for themselves. That's why you hate Kovu and Diego so much, it's not just because of what happened because you would have recovered from that, everybody has been accused of stealing in our District. The reason you hate my brothers is because they outsmarted you, they showed you up and you never thought anyone could ever do that, you didn't think anyone had the confidence to do it. It made you appear weak and it hurt your ego. That's just what you are Dandy Robinson, an egotistical maniac!" The blond girl's eyes widen in shock, and she glances at Dandy wondering what he'll do next. Dandy straightens himself up, a cold smirk spread across his face.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Cleopatra, especially considering we will be going into an arena and killing each other in only a few more days' time." Dandy turns around, stalking out of the training area, his group of 'friends' following like little lost puppies. A deathly silence falls across the arena; I sit back down at the camouflage table, hiding behind a veil of dark hair that has escaped my pony tail. A few people start talking again awkwardly, who'd have known a small confrontation could leave me feeling so embarrassed?

"You have a lot of guts to do that," says the copper haired instructor. I nod, not wanting to talk. The girl starts swirling paint in a pot and not offering me any assistance, she doesn't want me around.

"Come on. I think weaving baskets is something you'll be good at." A woman says looking down at me. I smile gratefully and pad after her to an empty weaving station. By now the training arena is filled with chatter, and I find my heart beginning to slow down as I start weaving pieces of vines into a bowl shape.

"You know, you remind me of my little sister. She had to compete in The Hunger Games as well. She got into endless arguments with the Careers, I know because the other instructors told me when I arrived here." The woman looks down at her weaving, her blue eyes clouding over with sadness.

"What happened to her?" I ask although I already know.

"She died the first day trying to escape the cornucopia; the Career she had annoyed went after her straight away. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't much of a fighter so she couldn't defend herself. If the games were won by arguments, she would have come home without a doubt. That's why I applied for this job, an instructor. I wanted to reassure the children people don't believe in and train them up so they stand half a chance of being able to fight back."

"What district are you from?"

"Six, we don't normally have victors and the capitol were completely shocked when I turned up asking for a job. But of course they took me in; I can teach children things they can't." Suddenly her eyes lit up, "I can teach you! I'm going to train you up, make sure you will survive the night." She leaps up, grabbing my arm. I can't help smile at her enthusiasm,

"There must be something your good at?"

"I can throw knifes," The women grins even wider

"Brilliant! There's nearly always knifes in the arena. Oh by the way, my names Pine." The women winks at me and for the first time since I arrived I feel that maybe, just maybe I might have a chance at surviving the first day.


	4. Chapter 4

A throw my heavy knife; hitting the bull's eye for the tenth time in a row. Pine claps behind me,

"You're good, very good." I smile, looking back at her.

"I kill prey using knifes, I've kept me and my brothers alive with my little skill." I know it's stupid but I feel I can trust Pine, if she wanted to get me in trouble why would she have spent 3 days training me in different skills? Pine and I train twice a day, once in the morning while everyone is still asleep before breakfast and at night after dinner. Throughout the day whenever I am in training with the others, I concentrate on life saving skills like building fires, tying knots and camouflage. I never learn these skills with Pine; it's always self-defense and using weapons. Pine says the key to being a good tribute is to never let your opponents see exactly what you can do, that's the reason I never so much as look at a weapon in front of the others. I have to leave them thinking I'm unable to fight.

"Well, onto spears next then," Pine orders. I quickly jog over to the spears and pick the lightest, hoisting it up; I launch it at the dummy target. It misses the bull's eye by a few inches,

"Good. If that was a person you would have injured them," I nod, actually glad the spear hit the target and didn't behead someone instead.

"Hmm, there's a hungry bear and you've just caught a bird, what do you do?" Pine asks,

"Drop the bird and run, it's not worth getting injured for and I can easily catch another." I answer without blinking. Pine smiles,

"I'm glad my time wasn't wasted," Her blue eyes suddenly cloud over with sadness. I walk up to the instructor and she wraps her arms round my neck, hugging me tight. Something wet falls down my shoulder; I look up to see Pine crying.

"Tomorrow is the last time I'll see you before you go into the arena, it's going to be like losing my sister all over again." Pine sobs, I wipe a tear from her face.

"You never know I could do it, I could win. You've trained me with everything you know; no other tributes have had their own personal trainer!" I giggle, trying to lighten the mood. Pine nods,

"I only wish my sister had been given advice like you have been, then maybe she might have lasted a bit longer." Pine grins, "I know what I can do! I'll raise money for you, I can help you out when you're in the arena all you need to do is stay away from the Careers." A feeling of dread spreads across my stomach making me feel sick. Pine bites her bottom lip, which I've noticed she does when she's nervous.

"Dandy won't bother coming after you when theirs more fierce competitors to kill first."

"Dandy hates me, we have history-well actually, and he has history with something that has _nothing _to do with me. He'll get the careers to hunt me down, I'm certain of it, but I'm prepared, he has another coming if he thinks I'm going to let him kill me that easily." Pine hugs me tighter, gently patting my back. Dandy has been almost unbearable these past three days. He's not only a part of the Careers, but Dandy's basically the leader and most of the tributes are frightened to death of him. Whenever Dandy walks into the training arena, the other tributes move out of the way for him. They don't raise any attention to themselves by staying at a weapon station because the Careers always use them and the boy from District 11 learnt the hard way that the Careers will start an argument and a fight, if they can get away with it, over anything. Every meal time brings on a new round of evil glares, sniggers and sly smiles that mean my certain death. Pine suddenly releases me, looking towards the training center door. Zion Lumberton walks in; he's been stuffed into a brown suit that makes him look just like a sausage.

"What are you still doing here? It's time to eat and you need to get ready for the Game makers. Time is not to be wasted, Cleopatra, I wish you'd stick to the rules!" I scowl, I really hate this man.

"Bye Pine," I say, giving her another hug just to annoy Zion.

"I'll see you tomorrow before your interview, hopefully. Good luck with the Game makers Cleo, I'm sure you'll get a good score." I follow Zion out of the training center and towards the dining room. All the tributes are sitting down eating, talking about meeting the Game makers in a matter of hours. Normally we never eat with the other tributes but today is special, we are about to get our training scores. Zion walks away from me to sit at a table with all the other escorts. I make my way to a cart with bread, fill my plate up and drizzle it all with honey. I never knew before I arrived in the Capitol what a sweet tooth I had. I sit at a table on my own, as far away from the others as possible. I can feel eyes glancing at me from the Careers, I try my best to ignore them but it still makes me feel un-comfortable. I tear the chunks of bread apart; dip them in the honey and chew. Pine told me to not eat tons of food while I was in the Capitol because as soon as I get in the arena I'll get really hungry, really fast. I've stuck to that rule so far but the delicious smells swarming around me are so tempting I simply have to eat until I'm sick tomorrow. After all, I'm going to be fighting for my life in under two days. A huge shadow falls across my table and I don't have to be physic to know who it is.

"Don't babies eat honey and bread?" A voice sneers, I look up. Dandy is hovering over me with his minion's right behind. I swallow a chunk of bread,

"Baby's in District 7 don't eat bread and honey because that's what rich people eat. Besides, infants can't chew bread and if they tried to eat it they'd probably choke." The brown haired girl from District 4 laughs at me; I ignore her and eat another chunk of bread.

"Place your bets, what's her score going to be?" The read-headed boy called Felix sniggers,

"Hmm, 4 maybe if's she's lucky she'll manage a 5? Do you think you can get a 5 little baby?" The blond girl asks in a sickly sweet voice people use when they talk to young things or sick people.

"I don't know, I think I can get a 6 if I try really, really hard." I say, using a fake infant's voice that matches hers almost exactly. Dandy scowls,

"Don't play clever, Cleopatra!"

"Huh? But I was just playing your game; after all, I am just a silly little baby." I say, innocently, eyes wide and defenseless.

"Leave her to her baby food, come on guys, we have training to prepare for." Dandy stalks away and I smile, triumphant. Suddenly a plan forms in my head, one that could save me if it works out properly. The Careers are forever teasing me about being weak; maybe I should be just that- weak, shy and unprepared for the vicious arena. People who get low scores are normally left alone, I'm going to try and get the lowest score possible. I know from stories Kovu's told me that there was once a woman named Johanna Mason who won the games by pretending to be utterly useless, when in actual fact, she was a strong killer and had amazing control over an axe. Before any of the tributes knew it, she was hunting them all down.

…

My name is called and I walk through the oak door to the Game makers. After sitting in a small seating area with the other tributes, I couldn't be gladder to leave and surprisingly, I don't feel nervous. A dark hall looms ahead of me, lit only by a few spotlights over heavy metallic stands that have different arrays of weapons arranged neatly on them. You can tell just what weapons the Careers have used because they have been left scattered on the floor. I glance around for a weapon I know I can't use. Three axes lie next to each other in front of a heavy, wooden plank. I pick one up, struggling under the weight. A few Game makers look at me from their plates of food, slightly interested. I swing the axe, completely missing the plank. The wooden handle slips from my grasp and I leap away as the weapon falls to the floor with a loud clatter, narrowly missing my toes. The Game makers fall silent, I have their attention. _Think of Kovu and Diego, think of how sad their going to be when you die. Think of them starving to death because they can't hunt. _It works, I burst into tears. I let all the stress and fear I've felt over these past 5 days leave my body, not bothering to care what anyone thinks. The Game makers mutter awkwardly amongst themselves, I bet it's been a while since they saw a tribute break down, or maybe someone cried before I came here? A lot of the other people looked even more terrified than me. I wipe my tears away and walk slowly to a bow and arrow. I string the arrow and aim at the bull's eye center, releasing the string. The arrow flies straight past the target and lodges itself in a climbing rope, I let out a cry of annoyance so the Game makers know that wasn't supposed to happen and drop the bow.

"Thank-you, we've seen enough. You may leave, Cleopatra Ivy." I bow at the Game makers and swiftly exit the room. I ride the elevator to District 7's floor and run straight past Zion, James and Dandy into my room. Only then do I smile, I did it, I showed them how hopeless I am. A light tap makes me peel away my smile and James walks into the room. I'm surprised he'd even bother; he hasn't had even one conversation with me. The former victor sits on my bed, patting a space beside him. I tentatively sit down beside him,

"You're a good actress, Cleopatra." James sighs, I look up surprised.

"Actress, I'm not acting."

"You are I did exactly the same thing in my games. I acted weak and frightened; I made sure the Game makers gave me a low score and deliberately didn't show the other tributes what I could do. Cleo, you've already shown you have guts, I've heard a lot of your arguments with Dandy at the dinner table, I think the whole of the Capitol heard them!" James laughs, I can't help but giggle.

"Oh well, I'll have no sponsors and the tributes will kill me anyway." I don't know why but this makes me laugh even more. I'm going to die in two days' time; I'm never going to see my brothers again. I laugh even harder, more hysterically.

"Cleo, if you're serious about trying to act weak then you really need me to help you. Just because you get a low score and you cried, doesn't mean you're weak. Dandy knows you have a strong personality and you're not afraid of him. You're going to have to drastically change your attitude, pretend every time you argued with him you were terrified."

"I won't need to pretend; every time I look at Dandy I'm scared." James smiles slightly; I don't think he was expecting me to say that.

"You'd better sleep, the interviews are tomorrow and if you going to pull of your poor little weak girl act we have a lot of preparing to do. Be at breakfast early, we have a long day ahead of us."

"Why are you trying to help me, I thought you hated me?" I ask James shakes his head.

"I don't hate you; you're just a child, a poor child who most probably will die at the hands of the Careers." James scowls his voice acidic at the mention of the Careers. He stands up, deciding he's had enough of our conversation. "I'll tell the others you're crying and refuse to find out your score because you did so badly."

"Thank-you," I whisper, James winks at me and leaves the room. I lie down on my bed and fall straight to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up early, peeling of last night clothes and jump in the shower. I stare at the metal panel in front of me. The shower will not beat me this time. I press a big silver button and a shower of freezing cold water hammers against my head. I squeal, jumping away from the water, but there isn't anywhere to go. The water hits every single inch of the cubical. I press another random button and a sickly lilac gunk sprays from the sides.

"Argh turn off!" I bash another button and the water turns off. I stand shivering, covered head to toe in purple jelly.

"Round two," I mutter. I stare at the panel, trying to decipher it. Next to the silver button is a red one, I gently tap it and scolding water dumps down on me, I jab the silver button desperately and the water cools slightly. I keep on tapping until the water is cool enough for me to stand. Once the purple gunk has washed away, I press another button which showers me with white stuff that smells of coconut. I smile, beginning to understand the shower. It only took me almost a week. I had put of showering on my own, instead preferring to ask for my stylists to start the shower for me, which was embarrassing as they always looked at me like I was a complete idiot for not being able to understand their alien washing system. After another 5 minutes of messing around, I finally understand the controls and start to spray soap over myself, strawberry, vanilla, peach and chocolate. All the scents smell heavenly and I don't want to leave. Reluctantly, I turn the shower off and get dressed. It's just turned 7 o' clock when I walk to breakfast. I decided not to join Pine for any training today because I knew I needed to concentrate on looking good for the interviews later today. James is sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee. I don't really remember the games James was in but I knew they must be recent because he only looks about 20. He looks up at me from his cup, his blue eyes dull and bored.

"Get some breakfast," He orders. I pick up a plate and loud it with bread rolls and honey, my favorite food in the Capitol. I sit down opposite James, he looks annoyed.

"How bad did I do?" I ask between mouthfuls of food,

"Bad. You got a 4," I frown; from the look on James face he looks really angry about me getting a low score. I thought he wanted me to do badly? He takes another sip of coffee,

"Are you annoyed with me?" I ask, deciding not to care if I seem rude or confrontational for asking. This could be my last full day of living after all.

"No, I'm not annoyed with you, I'm annoyed with Dandy." I look up surprised; I thought Dandy was Mr. Wonderful. Even though james never showed any signs he actually like any of us, he always seemed comfortable talking to Dandy from time to time, nobody ever spoke to me. Maybe that was because I scowled every time I sat down with them?

"Dandy?"

"Yeah Dandy; he's acting like one of them, the Careers. I gave him advice after he received his score and he told me he didn't need my help that he could win this on his own and he didn't want me filling his head with anything that wouldn't work. I won the games for crying out loud, surely my advice works!" James clenched his fist, setting his coffee mug down before he broke it. "I wish I'd never bothered. Now he's with the careers it's as if we don't exist, does he even remember his home? We hate the Careers, everyone in District 7 does. The Capitol feed them more food, give them more money, and treat them like actual human beings instead of animals. Every single year the Careers slaughter our children, they don't care-none of them do. As long as Dandy is with those people, he's a traitor to his District and I refuse to help him. He can go ahead and die for all I care because I no longer view him as a District 7 member. He's nothing more than a lying, stealing traitor." I blink in surprise at my mentor's sudden rant. James has always seemed so mellow and calm, he never raised his voice, and half the time he didn't even look at us. He has always looked like a robot, as if the games have taken away everything that made him human, made him able to express his emotions. I suppose that's exactly what they did.

"I'm glad you're seeing him for what he's actually like, I've always thought he was arrogant." I stuff another roll into my mouth, James raises an eyebrow.

"Don't you get bored of that? It's all you've eaten since we got here, this is the last full day you'll be in the Capitol you might as well enjoy the food!" He stands up, grabbing a plate. I watch him walk around the carts, picking up fruit and filling bowls with unknown things. Eventually he sits down, pushing the food towards me. I pick up a bright orange fruit, un-peel it and chew. It's delicious; I've never tasted anything so nice. Tangy but at the same time sweet, James grins as my hazel eyes light up.

"It's the best thing about being in this hell hole; you really can't beat the food." He un-peels a curved yellow fruit and eats. I stuff my face until my belly feels like it will explode; all the flavors are different from one another-savory and sweet; sour and creamy, salty and rich. James grins,

"I bet you won't go back to bread and honey after tasting all this," I shake my head.

"I still think bread and honey is the nicest dish I've ever tasted, although the fruit and yogurt is gorgeous as well."

"You have a terrible sweet tooth, just wait till dinner. So many more dishes and cakes just wait till you taste the cakes!" I suddenly feel sad, I've been here nearly a week and I haven't tasted all the dishes. I'd been in such a rush to get away from Dandy I hadn't enjoyed myself at all. Zion Lumberton waddled into the dining hall; James slouched in his chair, a scowl spreading across his face. I smile slightly; I'm not the only one who can't stand Zion. Maybe hatred towards fat, obnoxious stuck up escort's runs in District 7 blood?

"Wow, you're up early." Zion comments, I stir the smooth porridge wondering what would happen if I threw it at him. James sensed what I wanted to do and shook his head slightly, grinning. I smile back, realizing that I really do like James, even though he seems hard and cold at times. Zion grabs a massive portion of rice and stew, which I thought was a really weird thing to eat for breakfast and didn't like. We sit in a heavy silence, broken only by the sound of Zion slurping and munching. James smooth's down his black hair, which looks like he'd cut it himself as some strands were longer than others.

"Well, where's Dandy this fine morning?" Zion asked James scowled even more.

"He's so much better than us he can't be bothered to come to breakfast early so we can discuss his interview." James said, sarcastically. Zion frowned,

"I'm sure that's not true, he must have over slept. I bet he's exhausted after getting that big, fat 10 last night!" James stands up and walks to the food cart.

"You poor lamb, you only got a 4. Did it really upset you?" Zion asks, looking at me. It's the first thing he's directly said to me that isn't horrible. I'm shocked.

"Yes, I'm very upset." I lie, putting a spoonful of porridge into my mouth even though I'm full. James walks back to the table with a cup of coffee and a bagel. I stand up and walk to the bread cart. I pick up something I haven't tasted and spread it with butter.

"I thought you were full." James says as I sit down, repeating my previous thought.

"I am I'm eating for the sake of it." I bite into the bread, is warm and fruity- an instant favorite. James stands up,

"I'm not waiting any longer. His lordship doesn't deserve us waiting; he has no respect. Come on Cleo," James storms out the room, I get up and follow.

…

James sits behind an oak desk, his blue eyes are still furious but he forces a smile.

"You need to keep up the vulnerable act. When you have your interview answer as little as you can and try to cry, this will get you sympathy and make you look really weak." I nod; I was planning on doing that anyway. James taps his fingers on the desk, thinking.

"I'll be Caesar, answer my questions properly, remember the whole of Panem will be watching so don't offend anyone, especially the other Districts. Even though your acting weak we still want you to get a few sponsors, it'll make your life a lot easier in the games." I nod and sit a little straighter in my seat; I start to play with my fingers which gets a nod of approval from James.

"So Cleopatra, you got a 4 in training, how do you feel about that?" James asks, putting on a fake Capitol accent that makes me want to laugh. I pause, swallowing hard.

"I was quite upset when I found out; I hoped to get at least a 6." I look down, sighing heavily. "I just hope I did enough to get a least one kind sponsor, but to be honest Caesar, I wouldn't bet on me to win." James grins

"Perfect, but remember not to milk it, your 15 not 6 don't push it too far." We practice for hours after that, talking and answering questions. Everything is covered; how I act, how I walk and even how I speak all have an impact on how Panem will view me, and more importantly, how my competition will view me. Eventually James stands up and announces we're all done, I follow him to the dining hall for lunch. I grab my usual meal, James raises an eyebrow.

"I'm saving myself for dinner," I announce. Dandy sits down beside James, smirking.

"Wow, what an honor! Dandy Robinson has joined us to eat." James exclaimed, raising his hands up to the ceiling and then pointing at Dandy.

"What are you talking about; I eat with you all the time unlike her." Dandy jabs a finger towards me, I bite into my bread. The reason I used to take my food with me into my room was so I could escape from Dandy, besides, when I was in my room I could practice my knife throwing skills with pencils which were in a small pot on a desk in my room. Why on earth would I need paper and pencils anyway, even if I could read and write, I wouldn't exactly sit down and start a letter. James rolls his eyes at Dandy and sips yet another cup of coffee.

"It's a wonder you sleep at all with all the coffee you drink," I exclaim.

"I don't sleep; I drink coffee to _stop _myself falling asleep." I frown, "I have really bad nightmares, it's one thing winning the games but it won't ever leave you. Once you win there's no going back, you're never the same person again." James says his voice neutral. Only James could possibly deliver a line like that and not have any emotion in his voice.

"James, you need to work with Dandy. The stylists have already sorted him out, doesn't he look fabulous?" Zion gestures towards Dandy's shiny appearance, a smile spread across his chubby cheeks.

"If you think I'm working with that un-grateful git you have another thing coming. He joined the Careers; he's shown he can do everything on his own. I hope he squirms when Caesar interviews him." James stands up and storms out the room. He really does hate Dandy.

"We don't have much time to make her look nice so can you hurry up!" My stylist snaps, I hadn't even noticed him sitting in the corner of the room. And I thought James acted neutral, my stylist seems to blend right into the background, becoming a grotesque, gothic ornament. I still couldn't look at him without feeling creeped out, like I was staring at a dead body because that's exactly what he looked like. I pushed my plate away and scampered after him, hoping my prep team would be in the same room as me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: I GOT A REVIEW! Soooo happy right now! Thank you James for reviewing it means a lot and I'm so glad you liked my story; I hope you'll continue to read. If you want to see a happy author again then you know what you have to do. REVIEW! **

I stare at myself in the floor length mirror, shocked. I look about 10 years old, sweet and innocent. My long hair has been curled into loose ringlets; my face has very minimal make-up. I'm wearing a loose fitting floral dress that stops at the knees into frills in a bright yellow canary colour. It doesn't suit my completion and it makes me looked washed out, it's perfect. I smile, James must have told my stylist to make me look young.

"It's wonderful, thank-you." My stylist grabs a piece of yellow material and wraps it around my waist, tying it at the back into a bow. He nods, satisfied at his work then leaves the room, quickly replaced by James.

"Brilliant!" He grins, "Come on. Interview time, remember what we discussed." James holds my hand and leads me out of the room. Dandy is standing beside the elevator; he's wearing a tight fitting gold suit that shows all his muscles.

"At last, I don't want to be late thank you very much!" Dandy snaps and he gets into the elevator, me and James follow.

"Where's Zion?" I ask,

"Already on stage, he's waiting for us." James walks confidently down a long corridor, the walls decorated with all the pictures of the previous victors. I spot James own face on the wall, he looks younger and terrified, there's a long scratch down one side of his face that I hadn't noticed before. When was this picture taken, right after he won? Underneath the picture in curly cursive italic writing it said _James Ostana, 68__th__ Annual Hunger games Victor, _so he won only 3 years ago, wow, he's a recent victor. Looking at his picture I begin try and remember what I was doing only 3 years ago. I must have been 11 or 12, so I would have only just left the orphanage. No wonder I don't remember the games he was in, I was so distracted with trying to keep my brothers and me alive. James rounds a corner and walks through an opened doorway out into a small arena, it's brightly, lit with thousands of tiny lights that burn my eyes.

"Find your seat on the side of the stage," James says. Dandy trots away, I follow him as not to get lost. We make our way up some small steps and find all the other tributes sitting next to the stage in plush red seats. Butterflies flutter in my stomach making me want to throw up. I sit down on a seat marked _District 7 Female Tribute, _we're the last District to arrive. Caesar Flickerman bounces on the stage, the whole crowd cheers.

"Welcome Ladies and Gents to the Seventy First Annual Hunger Games interviews." People cheer even louder; this is all just a big show to them. "Let us begin; all the way from District 1 its Pearl Ravenswater!" The flouncy blond girl who's always with Dandy walks on stage wearing a long crimson dress that hugs her curves. I look up to see Dandy grinning wildly. Are those to a couple? I really wouldn't be surprised, relationships in the Games always go down well with the Capitol audience because it's all so tragic, and one person will always die if not both of them, Dandy will do anything for attention. The crown cheers and Pearl interview is over, she walks off stage and is replaced with the male tribute from her District. The interviews pass by too fast, no one catches my attention other than the District 6 boy. He's evil, I'm sure of it. His name is Titus and all the way through his interview he grinned wildly showing his perfect white teeth, he looked almost like a maniac. Dandy scowled as Titus walked of stage and I realized this vicious boy wasn't part of the careers.

"On to District 7 now, everyone welcome Cleopatra Ivy." There's a small applause, but I can't move a muscle. I'm totally frozen in free, Caesar looks towards the tributes spotting me.

"Come on darling don't be shy, I won't bite." He holds out his hand for me, I take a deep breath and stand up. The Capitol claps as I sit down in the plush seat, Caesar smiles at me.

"How are you feeling, Cleopatra?"

"Terrified," I admit, Caesar pats my hand reassuringly. The capitol lets out a loud Aww.

"You're shaking, do try to calm down, there's nothing to be afraid of." Yeah nothing to be afraid of, except the small fact I'm going to die tomorrow. "Now, let's discus your training score. A 4, how do you feel about that?"

"I think the Game makers were being nice to me, I thought I would get a 1 for sure." Caesar sits forward in his chair,

"Why's that?" I look up at the rows of people and spot James, he's nodding and me and smiling.

"Well, I kind of...started crying." Caesar frowns; he looks almost pained for me.

"You poor lamb, there's no need to cry you're in safe hands with our Game makers." I bite my lip to stop myself laughing. Your Game makers are about to put us all in an arena and watch us all kill each other and if there's not enough blood you'll bring something horrible out to slaughter a few tributes! Yep, I have nothing at all to fear because I'm in the Game Makers safe hands.

"There must be something your good at, what's your main advantage in the arena." Oh no, I freeze, unsure how to answer because James specifically said I wouldn't be asked a question like this. I frown, trying to make my face look like I was thinking hard instead of having a mini panic attack. I don't know what to say, I can't tell him the truth that I'm quite fast and good with knifes or my whole act will be a total waste of time. I gulp, thinking of the top of my head.

"I won't eat anything poisonous," The crowd chuckles and claps for me. Caesar grins,

"That's a good skill to have; you need food in the arena." I look up at James again, he's beaming and I know I'm doing well.

"Well when I watched your reaping someone stood out, who was the boy shouting?" He's touched a nerve, normally I would snap and tell him it's none of his business but I can't. Instead, I bite the insides of my cheeks, hard. I swallow and before I know it I'm crying from the pain of my teeth sinking into my soft flesh.

"Oh no darling, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you upset," I nod; squeezing tears from my eyes and letting my shoulders shake. Caesar hands me a tissue and I dry my face; he's well prepared I'll give him that, well prepared and stupid if he thinks I'm really crying. I swallow the tang of blood that's filled my mouth from the small hole I had torn in my cheek, before answering Caesar's question.

"His names Kovu and he's my brother. He cares about me very much and I know he'll be watching me now." Caesar nods,

"Have you got anything to say to your brother?" I pause, what will he be thinking? I look down at the camera that's hovering over me and give it a long look, I hope he'll understand that I'm acting, that I remember my promise.

"I love you Kovu- and Diego, don't eat anything poisonous." Caesar laughs and pats my hand again,

"Is Diego your boyfriend?" He asks,

"No! He's my other brother," The crowd claps and starts to giggle, so do I. A buzzer goes off and my time is up. I breathe a loud sigh of relief and stand up so Caesar can lift up my arm.

"The lovely Cleopatra Ivy everyone," I make my way off stage and sit down, Dandy looks at me once before joining Caesar and I know I've done it. It wasn't vicious or sly glance, it was more a look of pity, and I must have looked ridiculous up there on stage. I do hope I didn't worry my brothers…

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous Dandy Robinson. What a pleasure it is to finally speak to you, I've heard so very much about you already." The crowd cheers, some standing to their feet and whistling. Dandy smiles and waves at them all, he then sat down in his chair looking so totally at home in the spotlight.

"Tell me Dandy, how do you do it?" Dandy grins,

"Do what?"

"Why captivate us all of course!" The crowd cheers again, Dandy shrugs.

"I'm just being myself Caesar; it's in my nature to make people love me." I roll my eyes, what an idiot. I don't think this boy couldn't sound more arrogant if he tried. Who in their right mind says they made people love them. These past few days I've been really glad Diego tarnished this boy's name in our District because Dandy Robinson really deserves any negative attention he gets.

"Well the crowd really does love you, Dandy!" On queue a woman stands up,

"Marry me Dandy!" She shouts, Dandy chuckles but ignores her. Maybe he's regretting pretending to have a girlfriend because his attention seeking plan would have worked much better if he tried to be the Capitols love attraction like Finnick Odair was.

"You got a 10 in training such a wonderful score, how amazing did you feel for getting that whooper?" Caesar asked, sinking into his chair.

"Oh Caesar, it was great. I got the joint highest score, what's not to love?" His eyes flicker towards the District 2 boy, Felix. The red haired boy looks away, ashamed. He's scared of Dandy! The rest of the interviews fly by, the tributes from District 9 are twins which make me think about Kovu and I'm glad he's not here. The boy from 10, Rain, is a charmer; he has the crowd eating out the palm of his hand from one wink of his dazzling eyes, I'm sure he'll have tones of sponsors. The girl from District 12 is the youngest at only 13, but still she managed to get an 8 in training. I got the lowest score of the lot which I'm pleased about.

"Ladies and Gentlemen give another round of applause for our 71st Hunger Game tributes!" A mixture of names are called from the crowd,

"Felix! Pearl! Rain! Titus! Ash and Dandy." Dandy's name is shouted the most, the girl called Ash walks up to him.

"You were great,"

"You too," Dandy says, giving the stocky caramel haired girl a cheeky grin. I don't really remember her interview as anything special; she just acted tough and arrogant. Like all career tributes from District 4. All the Careers are exactly the same, I'm sure they must get taught how to act like narrow minded, psychopaths at school because every single one of them excels at it. I walk past the other tributes who are all talking amongst themselves, or with other tributes they had become friends with during training. The boy, Rain, smiles at me as I walk past.

"Are you ok, Cleo?" He asks I nod.

"I'm fine thank-you; I just miss my brothers- that's all." I smile shyly before walking out of the arena, I don't want to appear rude but I really don't have the time, or the energy, to stick around to talk to people I might have to watch die horribly tomorrow. I know that if I started speaking to them and realized they were all like me, it would make tomorrow seem even more difficult. After all, I might have to kill some of these people. I run back down the long corridor with the pictures of former victors and race into the elevator, James was already standing in there, his finger pressed against a small _7. _

"You were perfect; the tears really sealed the deal!" I smiled,

"Well, I tore up my cheek to make them, but I guess we'll see tomorrow if our plan actually worked."

"Yeah, I guess we will."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Thank you so much for your reviews, Ilovedoodle and Immyrose, they mean a lot. I know there may be a few mistakes with different words so I am sorry about that. When I re-read through this story before editing I thought Cleo was boarding on Mary-sueishness (I know it's not a word but oh well) so I definitely worked on making her more independent and gave her some flaws. You're reviews mean a lot guys so thank you!**

I stare at the clothes laid down on my bed, I feel sick and I think I might faint. Thick black pants, a grey long sleeved t-shirt and a grey coat with a furry hood. Looks like I'm in for the cold. I pull on some underwear when I have a small thought. If it's a cold arena then I'll need extra layers. I look through the white tarnished wooden draws and pull out a pair of black leggings; I put them on under the trousers. Next for my top, I find a bright blue tank top and put it on followed by a tight black t-shirt made of some sort of plastic material. I've just finished putting on three pairs of thick socks when there's a knock at the door.

"Come in," I call. James walks into the room, a worried expression across his face.

"How are you feeling?" He asks; I can't help but giggle, I always laugh in such awkward situations.

"Ok actually, considering the fact I might be dead by night fall," James flinches as if I'd just hit him.

"You know, you've put on a lot of weight since last night!" He says, gesturing at my extra layers.

"Is it really obvious?"

"No only to me because I did the exact same thing in my games." James fishes out a belt and straps in round my waist, on top of the other one.

"You never know when you'll need a belt, how many socks have you got on?"

"Three,"

"Where an extra pair, you can turn them into gloves." I nod and pick up a thick grey pair; James looks through my draws, picking up random clothes and pulling a confused face. Some of the clothes the capitol have placed in there are really random. I mean, when will I actually have the time to wear a bright pink ball gown and a cape? I sit down on the edge of my bed, a question pops into my head, once I've wanted to ask for a while now.

"James, what were your games like?" James sighs, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"The arena was designed to mess with your head, believe me it worked. It was a desert, but the sand was blue and the sky was red, like blood." A small shiver runs down my spine, no wonder James doesn't like to go to sleep at night, his poor mind must be tortured after being in an arena like that. Maybe mine will be the same if I make it out alive?

"Why would you need to wear extra layers in a desert? That's a bit stupid if you ask me,"

"The desert was minus 10 degrees some nights, I wore extra layers because the outfit we were meant to wear was thick, and I used my head just like you. Everything was confusing about the arena, the rocks were soft, and the sand was hard. Cactus contained food instead of water and insects were liquid if you bit into them; the Game makers really enjoyed watching us go insane with confusion." James suddenly smiles, as if remembering a funny joke. I decide not to ask.

"I hope our arena won't be like that!" I say, crossing my legs.

"I doubt it; a lot of people froze to death in those games; not much blood and gore-well, unless you consider Iris Harvey who was an utter nutcase. That's how I won, I wore extra layers so I didn't freeze and I quickly figured out the arena, and the game plans of everyone else in the arena. The Careers all stayed away from me because I cried and acted weak, by the time they figured out I was still alive I was prepared to kill them. I was stronger than they were because they were starving and thirsty, and insane; I can only wish it will be the same for you."

"Insane? Who was insane?" James smiled,

"There was a girl in my games named Iris, from District 2. Everybody thought she would win, including her. She threw her weight around and got into a lot of arguments. The arena quickly made her lose her mind; she ended up killing all her allies, which made my life a lot easier. In the end she started hallucinating, seeing goddess which weren't there. That's how I killed her, she thought she had won and was giggling and congratulating herself. I stabbed her before she could react." I blinked in surprise, I really had no idea the Game makers could mess with people's minds like that.

"I have a feeling Dandy will win, he got a high score and the Careers are scared of him, besides, most of the victors are a little bit crazy. At least you'll get a victor…" James rolls his eyes,

"Whoopee! Dandy will survive, I really hate that guy. So un-grateful, does he not remember that the Careers kill District 7 kids like them would a mouse? Everyone back home hates Careers, they really despise them! He's turning his back on his District. I don't really want to talk about him, let's just go and eat." I follow James out my room and into the dining hall where Zion was sitting, dabbing his eyes with a tissue.

"I hope you'll make it Dandy, I really hope you'll win. It's been an honor to escort you..." Zion blew his nose loudly; James makes a gagging sound, sticking his fingers near his mouth like he's going to throw up. I laugh loudly, quickly covering my mouth. I can't afford to laugh at anything; Dandy will kill me if I so much as offend him once. I sit down at the table and James drops a plate in front of me. Bread and honey; I want to cry, he remembered. We eat in silence, broken only by the sound of Zion sobbing for a Career and chewing. All too soon my stylist comes into the dining room, calling me for launch. Now I really want to be sick. James stands up and hugs me; I'm shocked and a little pleased. He places his hand inside my jacket and something gets lodged in my pocket, he's given me something! Zion raises an eyebrow at our embrace; James gives Dandy a reluctant hug to stop him asking questions.

"The best of luck Dandy, I really, really hope you come out alive. It'd be a shame to get you killed!" Zion is so overcome with emotion he leaves the room.

"Cleo," A voice calls and warm hands hug me tight. Pine!

"I simply had to say good-bye to you," I look up at my trainer, her black hair is all messed up and her blue eyes are watering.

"I'm going to miss you so much Pine," Pine grips me tighter, her tears soaking my grey coat. That's something I've noticed about Pine after all our training, it doesn't take very much for her to break down in tears. I would have thought she would get used to saying good bye to tributes and watching them die. I guess not. She leans down and whispers into my ear,

"You know what you have to do, you know your skills and your interview was perfect. Show them all just what you can do, make them love you just like I do." I'm so happy and sad at the same time I don't know what to do, instead I just smile and nod at her to show I understand. Pine kisses my forehead.

"This is awful, you're like a second little sister and now you're going into the arena-" Pine bites her lip, tears streaming down her face.

"Come on now, we need to get going," My stylist calls, I give Pine one last hug and say my goodbyes to her and James. I don't bother calling a goodbye to Zion who I can hear sobbing in the next room, what a wet lettuce! I follow my stylist into the elevator and down some long winding corridors. I quickly get lost until theirs a bright burst of light and a hovercraft appears, I'm helped on board and something sharp is jabbed into my arm. I want to scream and push the woman away but I know better.

"This is a tracker sweetie, so we don't lose you in the arena." I sit down in a metal chair next to my stylist and we get carried away. I'm shaking because when a cup is placed in my hands water splashes over the sides. The hovercraft stops and I walk outside, two peacekeepers walk me and my stylist down even more corridors and then into a room with a massive clear tube. The door is locked shut behind us and a metallic voice tells us we have 30 seconds until launch. That's when I begin to panic. All the time I've been in the Capitol I've tried to completely forget that this would happen, I tried to pretend this was all a bad dream and I would wake up in my cabin with Diego and Kovu and they would give me a hug and tell me it was all a bad dream. Then we would all go out into the woods and collect meadow flowers and boil them in water to make tea like the kind lady at the orphanage taught me too. I never did find out what happened to that lady, I never saw her again. Will she be watching me now, watching me about to die? Tears sting at my eyes and 'm frightened I'm going to start crying. I really don't want to cry. I know it was all a part of my plan, but crying now will only distract me because I won't be able to stop, I'll be blinded by tears as I try to run away and then I'll surely be killed. My stylist places a gentle hand on my arm, tearing me away from my dazed and hysterical thoughts.

"What's your name?" I ask un-expectantly. It isn't something I actually want to know, but I know that as soon as I'm in the arena every scrap of information I never bothered to ask about would start playing in my mind.

"My names Dave," I want to laugh; this man who looks like he's just died has a simple name, a name I might actually hear in my own home. He notices my amusement.

"I think it adds to my overall look," He smiles and then frowns at my hair. "Dear oh dear, you're not actually going into the arena with long hair down, you want comfort and having your hair in your eyes will not be an advantage." Dave's skilled fingers untangle the knots in my still damp hair and he starts a tight neat braid, pulling all my hair away from my face.

_10 Seconds_, the voice calls. I turn to face Dave,

"Sorry I wasn't the best child to style; you're really very good at designing, better luck next year." His mouth forms a little O; he looks guilty, because I'm sure ever since I arrived he was annoyed about not being able to show off his creativeness. I'm really a rather plain canvas for someone like him.

"Try and fight out there, don't let them kill you easily." Dave whispers, his tone almost soft. I'm frozen and then I feel the fire. Don't just die. Kovu and Diego told me- no made me promise I would fight. Dave gestures towards the glass cylinder and I walk towards it, he gives me a small, pitying smile. I watch as the glass cylinder falls around me and I'm slowly lifted through the darkness into the arena.

…

Icy wind hits me in the face like a slap. I open my eyes and a gasp gets stuck in the back of my throat. We are on a mountain, gray rock and snow peaked tops. But there's a familiar smell, pine-a stretch of trees about 30 metres down the rocky ledges, I'm heading for there. I look around the circle of children, scared, determined, excited, so many different emotions playing across all their faces. I spot the brutal boy named Titus; he's practically bouncing on his metal plate, waiting for the games to begin. There's a tall pyramid of weapons, clothes, food, water, medicine and anything else you might need in this arena. I wonder if I should go and take something but quickly decide against it.

_30 seconds_, I look for an escape route; I want a thin ledge where stocky careers can't follow me. For the first time I'm glad I'm smaller than these people, much easier to move around the rocks that way. There's a tiny path that cuts directly towards the trees, big enough for me but far too big for anyone like Titus to follow. A glint of silver catches my attention, a knife, right next to my escape route. I've made up my mind in a second. That's mine. It would set me back what? 5, 6 seconds tops and then I'd be off, I know I can get it.

_10 seconds_. Pine told me I'd know what I needed to do once I was in the arena and she's the only person who knows how good I am with a knife. She'd want me to get it.

_5_, my heart starts thumping louder and louder.

_4_, I position my feet ready to run.

_3_, Dandy catches my eye, he's three people to my left.

_2_, my blood boils as I imagine him winning and going home to District 7- my home.

_1_. A cannon fires and I sprint towards the knife, tugging it from the ground. I turn to run away when something grabs my ankle, knocking me to the floor. I drop the knife and scream, kicking my leg. Suddenly the hand moves away, and I turn around to see two beautiful blue eyes staring at me, a boy has pushed Dandy away from me. I snap into action and grab the knife again, running as fast as I dare down the thin, rocky ledge towards the sea of green pine trees. When the sound of children screaming in agony finally fades away, I slowly begin to realize that someone just saved my life. Dandy would have killed me without a doubt if that boy hadn't pushed him away. I know him, I'm sure I know the blue eyed boy. The scent of pine wafts towards me, hugging me with its smells of home. Pine, what will she be thinking, is she glad I got the knife? Pine-training! I do know that boy! I nearly chopped his head off with a spear. Rain, the boy from District 10, just saved my life.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Note: So sorry I haven't uploaded in ages, my laptop broke (again) so I haven't been able to. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter; I left it on a bit of a cliff hanger (by mistake) so here's what happens next. I should post another chapter before Christmas but if I don't have a lovely Christmas and I hope you get everything you want. After Christmas I will be on Fan Fiction a lot more because I'll have a kindle so if you want me to check out your story's for when I get bored at night and go hunting around for things to read tell me in a review or a private message. Thank-you 3**

I slowed down my pace, catching my breath. I had been running non-stop for about 20 minutes, too afraid to stop moving and trying to put as much distance between myself and the Careers as possible. Suddenly cannons fired, signaling the end of the blood bath_._ Eight loud booms echo around the mountains, then there's silence. Who died? I can't help hoping it wasn't Rain; after all, he did help me get away from Dandy. Would Dandy have killed him, did he get away from the clearing? I stared up at a thick pine tree leaping into its closely intertwined branches. I climb up, until the limbs are far too thin to support my weight. I know I should be safe here, not many people would be able to climb so silently so I could hopefully make a quick escape by leaping down. I pull my knife out of my belt loop and shave a bit of bark from the tree, chewing. I remember on some particularly harsh nights, I would boil bark in water to soften it up so Diego, Kovu and I could eat it and fill our bellies up. It never properly satisfied us, but it would stop our empty stomachs paining us enough so we could go outside and hunt or gather berries. I shift my weight on the branch so my legs dangle down, hoping my blood will be able to circulate properly so I won't get a dead leg. As I move, the package James gave me shifts in my pocket, I'd forgotten all about it while I was running. I rummage inside my coat and pull it out. I unfold the embroided white silk napkin it's wrapped in and the beautiful scent of honey fills my nose. Three perfect round rolls sit on the napkin; all of them are drenched in thick golden honey. I wrap them back up and stuff them back inside my coat. They will be for an emergency.

…

My face and fingers are aching with cold and the sun is already setting across the sky. How long have I been sitting in this tree for, it seems like hours? I gently ease myself up onto the branch in a standing position so I can gaze into in the distance. I'm high up and the mountains are only small gray flecks on the horizon. Hopefully the Careers won't bother coming this far tonight, that's if there actually staying in the mountains. Yeah, they will be staying there, the pyramid supply was set up next to the platforms and I highly doubt the Careers would bother moving all of that stuff down the mountain face, at least not on the first night. I sit back down on my branch, trying to get myself into a comfortable position. I pull of my boots and take off two pairs of socks, quickly doing the laces back up again, tightly. I put the socks on my hands, cutting holes for my fingers and thumb with my knife. With the other socks, I wrap them around my nose and mouth. I must look stupid but at least my nose won't drop of with frost bite. I un-buckle my belt and tie myself to the branch, gripping my knife, I fall into an un-comfortable sleep.

…

I wake to the sound of Panem's nation anthem, blazing across the arena. I sit up as best I can with the belt wrapped around my waist and stare up at the projected screen that has now taken over the fake sky. The anthem fades away and eight faces are shown on after the other, the boy from 1; the boy from three; both tributes from District 5, the girl from 6; both from 8; and the girl from 12 who was only 13. The faces fade away and a thick blanket of night falls over the arena. Rain isn't dead, but neither is Dandy, Pearl, Ash, Felix or Titus, the people I really want out of the arena. I'm surprised the boy from 1 is dead; I thought he would have made it; after all, he was pearl's District partner. I close my eyes, waiting for myself to fall back into a dreamless sleep. As I'm beginning to drift off, a branch snaps underneath me. My heart immediately starts to pound loudly in my chest, but I refuse to move, they'll know I'm here if I dare do anything. I stare upwards, knowing the cameras will be on me now. Night time is when most of the deaths are from what I can remember of the short highlights I ever watched of the Games. Something small moves underneath me, from the dim light of her burning stick I recognize her as the girl from District 3. Her long dark hair is matted with leaves and I can see faint wet marks on her chalky face; I grip my knife tighter. Could I kill her? Could I throw this knife and end her life like I would a rabbit? Deep inside I know I can't do it, this girl has a family, friends who want her to come home alive instead of in a simple wooden box. If she attacks me, I'll attack her back but right now, she's not a threat, at least I hope not. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a dark shadow slink around a tree; the girl doesn't seem to notice, she's being tracked. My heart lurches in my chest. It's Titus, the brutish boy from 6. He tip-toes closer to her, sticking to the trees for coverage. Suddenly the girl turns around, spotting her stalker. She screams a loud, blood curdling scream that makes me want to run away. But I can't, even if I wanted too, I'm frozen to the spot in pure fear. Titus raises a heavy mace and swings for her head, the screaming immediately dies and a cannon explodes in the distance. She's dead. Titus grins and crouches down beside the girl's bloody head. He dabs his finger in her blood, studying it like an alien species. Acidic bile burns the back of my throat, threatening to make an appearance. Titus lifts up his finger to his nose, taking a deep sniff, he then puts in into his lips and tastes. I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself throwing up. The maniac boy doesn't move; he strokes the girls head like you would a pet. Why is no Hovercraft appearing? I look up at the sky, and mouth one word, 'help'. Nothing appears and Titus still hasn't moved away from his kill. It's going to be a very long night.

…

I open my eyes to a bright light. The sky is lightened with the seal and the anthem plays. My eyes feel heavy and I've had a very unsettled night stuck up a tree daring not to move so much as a muscle because I know that Titus will hear. He's still down there, staring into the trees, gripping his prey like a wolf would a deer. The District 3 girl's face lights up the sky and then the seal fades. Only she died. What a shame, I was really hoping the mountain would explode and kill Dandy and all the Careers, I suppose I should stop imagining things that that happening because when they don't, I'm actually disappointed. While I was contemplating other ways in which 5 or 6 people could die in one horrific move, something stirs in the trees next to me. I look down but Titus is still sitting there, should I be relived or more frightened? I lift up my knife, hoping the curious creature will see I'm armed and leave me alone. I closely listen but I can't hear anything, the creature isn't moving. There's nothing but silence, except the odd cooing noise from Titus, as he strokes the girl's hair. I've managed to tune that out now, so the noise doesn't make my blood run cold and my bones stiffen up like they did a few hours ago in the early hours of the morning when I first heard them. Suddenly a hand grips my mouth,

"Don't move." It whispers harshly. I do what it says, because I know I can't fight back, I'm strapped to the tree with a tight belt around my waist still and Titus would surely hear a commotion in the tree tops. The hand is released from around my mouth and a rock tumbles towards the earth. Titus leaps up, raising his mace.

"Who's there?" He shouts, obviously un-afraid of the other tributes. Another rock hurtles into an oak tree a few metres away, Titus smiles, running towards the noise probably hoping it's another poor tribute he can use as a toy. Everything goes still; suddenly a hot gust of wind blows leaves into my face and rattles the branches above my head. A hovercraft!

"Run!" The voice hisses, I don't need to be told twice. I quickly fumble with the belt buckle and rip it off me and hastily stuff it into my jacket. I climb swiftly from the tree, the noise from the craft drowning out my footsteps. I pelt away from Titus into the shadows, hoping I might have escaped the person in the trees as well because I'm worried they might try and attack me and I accidently dropped my knife in trying to escape. A hand shoots out of the foliage and grabs my arm, pulling me towards it. I squeal, kicking my leg and shaking my arm roughly, trying to loosen the tributes grip so I can escape.

"Stop, it's me." My attacker says, he grabs my other arm and pulls me towards the ground. I look up, ready to kick him in the face when I notice who it is-Rain.

"That kid needs help serious mental help." I stare at him, mouth open wide.

"What the hell are you doing, get off me! I thought you were trying to kill me, I'm not afraid of you. I'll kill you right now-"

"Shh, Cleo, I'm not trying to kill you, I'm helping you." Rain smiles, cunningly. "Besides, you dropped your knife."

"I'll strangle you with my belt loop. Plus, I don't need-or want, your help. Leave me alone." I snap. Rain chuckles softly.

"Please don't, anyway, you owe me, I've saved your life twice."

"I never asked you to, I don't need saving, I can look after myself."

"Don't be so stubborn, Cleo. I helped you; you don't have a clue what Titus was doing to that girl." Rain's blue eyes suddenly cloud over, as if remembering something horrific.

"I know what Titus was doing, I was stuck up a tree all bloody night watching him. Or did you forget that?" Rain sighs loudly, beginning to lose his patience with me.

"Look Cleo, Tributes last a lot longer when they have an ally. I think me and you should team up, Heather is sweet and I know I can trust her but she won't last long. She's already breaking down; I'm surprised she lasted the night." I frown, confused.

"Who's Heather?"

"She's my district partner," I nod, almost forgetting that I was annoyed about being pulled from a tree and scared half to death by a stranger.

"Well, I don't want to team up with you. And why did you fight Dandy? You could have got yourself killed; he's a maniac, probably worse than Titus!" Rain raises an eyebrow,

"I was either hallucinating or he actually tasted that poor girls blood, I really doubt Dandy is worse than him. Besides, Dandy thinks with his fist rather than his brain, I easily got away from him."

"You never answered my question, why are you saving me? I'm weak and I got a 4 in training and Dandy hates me and wants me dead!" Okay, that was perhaps taking it a little too far. A weak girl wouldn't have the guts to at least try and fight back, although, I didn't really manage that very well considering I'm sitting in a bush having an almost friendly conversation with a complete stranger who might stab me at any moment.

"We all know that's an act, I think I saw the real you in the chariot that night, when you got angry. I know it's a risk but I want you as my ally, we could last a lot longer." I pause, knowing I don't really have a choice. This boy saved me twice, even though I didn't want him too, and Titus might have found me and killed me sooner or later, I was far too frightened to have made a move and tried to escape. Besides, Rain has a sharp silver sword hanging from his belt loop that could easily chop my head off, maybe he's considered that option already, and it would be good pay back for the whole spear incident.

"I guess I'm your ally then, but, you don't push me around or tell me what to do and I'm in charge." Rain raises and eyebrow but he doesn't argue. Good, he'll go far if he gives me what I want, people tend to learn that quite fast when there around me. I smile. How bad can it really be? He has a weapon whereas I don't and he's right, I will last a lot longer with someone to watch my back. But why do I feel like this is the worst thing I could possibly do? And then I remember, Kovu-he told me not to trust anyone, and he is never, ever wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

I walked through the dense trees, searching for any sign of prey. Rain walks right behind me, sword ready in case we were attacked.

"Rain, we've been searching hours. There's nothing here!" I exclaim, my voice desperate.

"There has to be, what fun would that be to see children starve to death?" I kick a branch out of the way, angrily. We've been searching for hours trying to find a bit of prey, and there's nothing, not as much as a whisker. I stop walking, a thought suddenly crossing my mind.

"There isn't anything to eat here, because all the foods in the mountains. I saw some birds of prey circling up there; they would have been looking for rabbits and mice hiding in the rocks. The Game makers want us to go to the mountains because I'm sure that's where the Careers have set up camp; it's a waste of time and energy looking around here." Rain sighed; he had already come to that conclusion.

"We can search for roots and berries, I'm not going to risk going to the peaks for a measly scrap of food, and the Careers will kill us straight away if they spot us."

"And I have no weapon to defend myself." I say sulkily. I've been trying to persuade Rain to let me borrow his sword but he isn't letting me. I think he's still worried I might try and kill him.

"You're not completely weaponless, you have your belts." Rain says, chuckling to himself like he's just told the most amazing joke. I stare at him, my face stony.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny," I look overhead, as grey cloud loom in the sky, signaling rain or snow.

"At least we might have some water," I mutter. Rain places his sword in my hand,

"I'm going to go find something to eat; you don't look like you can walk any further."

"I can so, I'm just as energized as you are, what are-"

"-Climb a tree and don't move I'll be back soon." With that, he raced away. Not wanting to hear any more of my arguing. I sigh loudly and I jump up into an oak tree, settling into a sturdy high branch. I rest the heavy blade on my lap, actually glad he trusts me enough to give me his weapon. I really should run off now, but I'm too tired, and hungry. If Rain actually does get some prey, I'll have to have some before I run away from him. Kovu did specifically warn me not to be ally's with anyone; I'm keeping his warning in mind. I shift the sword, so the hilt is rested in the palm of my hand, so I'm ready to pick it up if I need to.

…

The growl in the pit of my stomach grew too much to handle as the sun crossed the artificial sky. I reached inside my coat and pulled out the three bread rolls, I had promised myself I would use them only in an emergency, now seemed a good one. I ripped a roll in half and popped it into my mouth, the sweet honey washing over my taste buds and soothing my throat which was beginning to feel sore. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted. I looked up at the sky, smiling.

"Thank-you," I whispered as loud as I dared, I knew James would get the message eventually. I wrapped the rolls back up, stuffing it into my coat. The empty feeling subsided, replaced with worry. Where was Rain? He must have been gone an hour maybe two? I climbed down the tree, the sword gripped in my hand. The socks around my face fell to the floor, I quickly scooped them back up and put them in my pocket, I needed them too much. I hesitated at the bottom of the tree, where would I go? Should I actually bother to go and find Rain, now was my chance to run away. But, I really don't want to go to the mountains just yet and he did say he was going hunting, what if he comes back with a juicy rabbit and I've ran off and left chewing bark? Suddenly a cannon fired in the sky, my heart skipped a beat. Rain, which tribute had killed him? Would they be coming for me? I heard thunderous footsteps racing towards me, I raised the sword. There was no chance I could get up the tree without trapping myself. A figure ran in my direction, his blue eyes stretched wide in fear. He launched himself into the tree; I lowered the sword and climbed after him. Rain sat up on a branch, gripping the tree trunk as tightly as he could.

"Rain, what happened?" I whispered, sitting beside him. I reached out my hand touching his arm, he was trembling.

"Titus," Rain muttered. He turned to look at me, "H-he killed someone. A-and then-" he cut of looking away.

"Rain, tell me what happened? Did he see you, who is dead?" Rain gripped my shoulders, shaking me slightly.

"I don't know who he killed but that doesn't matter. He's e-" I gasped; I didn't need to know anything else. "We need to get out of here, now. We won't last long without food and Titus is eating people, he'll catch us next if were not careful." I nodded; I already knew we couldn't live here for much longer. Rain climbed down the tree, I followed with the sword. When my feet hit the ground I ran. I don't think I've ever ran faster except when I was running into these woods, Rain races alongside me, his black hair flying. Our footsteps are heavy on the ground but we really don't care, Titus probably knew we were in the woods with him, I swear that guy knows and hears absolutely everything. The trees thinned out and we stood at the bottom of a rocky ledge, the exact same trail I took fleeing Dandy. We waited a few minutes to catch our breath, hiding in between too sharp rocks that would make us invisible to people above but trapped if anyone decided to come down the path, which I hoped no one would.

"Ok. First we need to find some food, I have a sword and lucky for us I know how to use it. I think we should stick to the trees, the Careers are a lot bigger than Titus and we need to stay hidden. Climb a nearby tree and don't you dare move, I won't be long and then we can find a better place to hide." Rain orders,

"But what if a Career comes, or Titus?"

"You run and don't look back even for a second, I'll find you eventually." Rain picks up his sword and crawls out of the ledge.

"I won't be long, I promise. Stay safe, Cleo." Rain races away towards a trail, I wait a few minutes before running to the trees. I decide not to think too much about how I'm the one left to hide like vulnerable prey, it'll only get me annoyed.

…

A cannon fires, sending shivers down my spine.

"Wow do you think that was?" I ask Rain shrugs.

"Maybe Titus got hungry again?" I frown, I really don't understand Rain's sense of humor- maybe it's a District 10 thing?

"He's barbaric! I don't care how hungry you are, _that_ is inhumane." Rain looks up at me with pain filled eyes, I should be thankful I didn't see what that maniac was doing, unlike Rain. "I guess we'll find out tonight who died, I hope it's Dandy." Rain smiles weakly,

"I really doubt it, but there's no harm in hoping." Yeah, there isn't any harm in hoping, hope seems to be the only thing anyone can hold onto in a place where everything is taken away from you. We found quite a good tree to camp in, it's about half an hour away from prey along the mountainside and it's a good distance from where Titus and the Careers are, plus there's a berry bush nearby. I take another bite of my rabbit leg; Rain is a very good hunter. He managed to catch three rabbits and a swallow; apparently there are heaps of rabbit burrows all over the mountain side. I recon I could have done better though; he was gone nearly all day. Not that I was worried, but I was weaponless and stuck up a tree.

"I think you should show me where the prey is, in case we get split up and I need to hunt," Rain nods chewing his meat.

"You can come with me when we next need to hunt; I don't think we should split up again. It's too dangerous, especially because we have to visit the mountains for food. It'd be a lot easier if you still had your knife, we could both hunt and get back to the trees sooner. I hate staying out in the open." I smile; I know exactly how he feels.

"You're from District 10, right? What's life like there?"

"It's hard, but so is every District. I have to work in the fields all day ploughing and feeding the livestock, I'm really glad I don't have a job in the slaughter house though, my friend did until he quit because he couldn't stand killing the poor things. I live in a small hut with my Mother and sister and Cow."

"Cow?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Rain grins,

"She's, believe it or not, our pet cow. Clover named her when she was only 6 and we never bothered to change her name. She produces us milk that we can sell and it helps us get by, we're a lot better off than most families. How about you, what's life like in woody District 7?"

"Well, I live in the houses given to poor workers in the woods. Both my brothers, Kovu and Diego, have a job cutting down trees for the capitol. So did Dandy, but he got fired…" I give Rain a look that clearly says, I can't talk about it here, or now, Rain nods. "I don't work or go to school, so I have a lot of spare time on my hands."

"I saw you're reaping, a brown haired boy got punched, and he looked just like you."

"That was Kovu, Diego was sitting on the floor, he's not the type to attack and get angry. He thinks with his brains rather than his fists, I think that's worse, if Diego wants revenge on you it always works out and there's not much you can do." I smile, remembering a time I took Diego's coat to go and play outside when I was about 7. Diego planted bugs in my bed and I screamed so loud I woke the whole house up. I got punished for it and of course there was no evidence that Diego has done such a thing, I've always been more fearful of Diego than Kovu after that day. Besides, on the rare occasions Kovu gets really angry with me, I also threaten to stab him with my hunting knife and he always backs down. I genuinely think he believes I'd try and hurt him, I wouldn't. I'd never raise a fist to anyone of my brothers, there to dear to me. As the night went on, Rain and I chatted about ourselves. Rain says his favourite animal are dogs, because there helpful around the farms and there loyal. His favourite colour is blue, he loves waking up late on Sundays and helping his mum prepare meat pies for dinner, he hates fly's and when he's older, he wants to set up his own cattle ranch where he can produce milk, cream and butter. The sky grows darker as the night goes on and the seal lit the sky interrupting our discussion about which bread is better, seeded or plain. Rain took a swig of water he'd collected from the mountains and handed it to me, while we watched the fallen.

"I'll never get used of this, one minute it's blazing hot and really bright, the next its freezing cold and pitch black. It messes with my body clock." I chuckled and handed him back the bottle, looking up at the sky, the sour face of the District 5 girl flashes across the sky, then a pretty blonde girl with big blue eyes. Rain gasped beside me,

"Heather..." He breathed, the final picture was a red haired boy with freckles from District 11; Rain shuddered.

"It's him, the one Titus-" I looked back up at the sky, that poor family, watching their son being devoured by a complete psychopath. The screen faded and we were plunged into darkness. I stretched and leaped up into a sturdy branch, strapping myself in with my belt.

"Good night Cleo," Rain murmurs beneath me. His voice is husky and I know he's holding back tears for his District tribute, Heather, who just died.

"Good night Rain." I close my eyes and fall into an unsettled sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

"Cleo, wake up!" I opened my eyes, bolting up, and my heart pounding. What's happened? Rain beams down at me, a silver parachute gripped in his hand.

"Look what we got, well, you got actually. I think this is yours." Rain handed me the parachute, attached was a beautifully crafted knife, just like the ones I'd practiced with. I smiled, turning it over in my hand, grateful Rain hadn't woken me up because we were being attacked.

"I didn't think I had any sponsors..."

"Your mentor handles all the sponsors' money; he must have decided you needed this." I smile, pulling the silver material away from my knife. Ha, Dandy's sponsorship money has been wasted on buying me a knife; I smile, looking up at the sky.

"Thank-you James; thank-you sponsors who may or may not actually want me to have this," Rain laughs besides me and climbs down the tree. I place the knife in my belt loop and put the scrap of silver material in my jacket, just in case an incident arises when having some material might be useful, I can't think when it might be but I'd be annoyed that I left it behind if I do end up needing it. I follow him Rain down the tree, leaping to the floor and standing beside him. The forest air is colder than normal; I can see my breath in front of me, clouding around my face like frosty smoke. I look out into the distance and spot a thick layer of snow over the mountain tops.

"It's weird; nothing ever comes in the woods, not even the weather." I say, Rain nods in agreement, un-wrapping our food from last night.

"I think there's a barrier keeping things out of the woods. That has to be the explanation, why nothing _ever _comes into the trees."

"Why would the Game makers bother putting one of them up isn't that just a total waste of time?"

"So we have to leave the woods for food and water, and there's an increased chance of bumping into the Careers who will try and murder us." As he says this, Rain's eyebrow crumples together, like he's trying to find the answer to a really difficult question and the answer is right under is nose. He hands me a rabbit leg and I eat it quickly, even though it's cold and tastes slightly watery.

"Are we going hunting today?" I ask, between mouthfuls.

"We don't need to, we have enough food to last us two more days I think. But we will need some more water soon, were running low."

"Well that won't be all that hard to get, there's heaps of snow around the mountains." We eat our breakfast and pack up, heading out of the trees. It feels weird being out in the open, un-safe. A big flurry of soft, wet snow drops down from the few trees it settled on, running all the way down my back. I shiver, shaking away the water and rushing to keep pace with Rain.

"Well this is the end of the barrier; it stretches father out of the woods than I thought." Rain jogs forward, unscrewing his cup; he packs it with snow and shakes. He hands me another water bottle from his brown backpack, which he managed to claim from the pile, and I fill it up. Rain gazes at the mountains, one hand on his sword. I smile,

"Are you scared?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Rain nods,

"The Careers are out there, you'd be a fool not to be scared." It's weird, even though I know the Careers are vicious, I didn't actually expect Rain to admit he was frightened of them, at least not so openly. We stand up, brushing snow from our coats and walk back towards the woods and through the invisible barrier Rain is convinced is keeping prey away from us, I somehow doubt that, the Game makers wouldn't bother doing that just to make us go to the mountains would they? Surely two tributes wouldn't make them go to so much trouble? As we stomp through the trees, the hairs at the back of my neck suddenly stand up, like somebody was watching me. I glance over my shoulder and stare at the bushes, nobody. I shake the feeling away, dismissing it as my own paranoia. Rain glances back at me, stops walking and pulls his sword from his belt.

"Did you hear that?" He whispers, I shake my head but take out my knife, just like Pine taught me too whenever I felt nervous. I strain my ears, trying to hear tiny sound in the trees. Could Titus be sneaking up on us? I somehow doubt it, Titus is sly and sneaky, he wouldn't attack two people who are armed and could easily hurt him, and it wouldn't be worth his energy. We stand listening intently for one long minute before I break the silence.

"You're on edge from being out of the woods, just keep walking." Rain frowns but follows me anyway, like I said, I was in charge and he did as I said. Although recently, I had begun giving more power to Rain, he was the one who got to hunt while I watched out for danger; he decided which tree we would camp in. Maybe I should take back my power; I don't want him thinking he's in charge of me, because he most definitely isn't. That's when I hear it. A branch snaps somewhere close and I know for a fact it has to be human. I spin around, looking into the bushes.

"I heard it that time." Rain stands in front of me in a defensive position his sword raised. I frown and step to his side, _he _isn't protecting _me; _I can look after myself thank you very much. Something fly's past my ear and hits a tree, a spear. I scream, turning around. A small blonde haired girl runs out of the trees towards me, a knife clasped in her hands.

"Run!" Rain yells I don't need to be told twice. I sprint further into the woods, the girl right behind me. If I can reach a tree I know I'll be ok, I can climb really fast and I doubt this girl will follow.

"Come back, weakling!" The girl sneers, I can hear she's gaining on me. I run faster. Suddenly something heavy lands on my back, pushing me to the floor. I shriek, kicking and thrashing. The blond haired girl tries to keep hold of me, pinning me to the floor, if I can just get my knife, I can stab her. She smiles, her green eyes twinkling.

"Ha! Think you could run away?" I shake my head, time to play weak again.

"Please don't hurt me, please." I squeeze my eyes, forcing tears that won't come. My hand moves closer to my belt, the girl doesn't notice. She places her knife close to my throat,

"Why are you not killing me yet?" I ask, my voice sounding harsher than I'd meant it to. The girl scowls and slaps me right across the face, that's it. I kick her in the stomach but she has a much too tight grip on me.

"Dandy wants to kill you himself; I'm not allowed to hurt you." I thrash and wriggle, lifting my head to try and butt her but she's got a bit of brain power and keeps her distance. I dig my free hand into her arm; letting my nails sink into her exposed skin while with the other hand I try and loosen my knife.

"You, a career, are not allowed to hurt me? What will happen if you do, will you be sent to bed without any dinner?" The girl's eyes flame with anger and she digs her knife into my throat, I try and lift up my knee to loosen her, but this girl is really heavy and she has me pinned down at the hip.

"Do it, I dare you!" Suddenly a cannon fire's, the girl looks up shocked, big mistake. I lift up my head, and hit her with all my power. She loses her grip and I roll, knocking her arms away from me, she topples over. I rip my knife from my belt loop, jumping at the girl. For a few seconds she stunned but that's all I need, I knock her easily to the floor and slice across her throat. She squirms, but it's too late. Blood pours from her wound and in a matter of seconds she goes limp. A second cannon fires. I put my knife back in my belt loop, surprised at how easy it was to kill someone-and how much I don't care. I look up at the sky, positive the cameras are on me.

"Don't trust District 7 tributes, there's more to us than meets the eye." I know it will confuse the audience but the intentions clear. I am not weak. I can kill quickly and efficiently, and Dandy, well Dandy is just an egotistical maniac who I can't wait to see dead, maybe I'll be the one to kill him? I run through the woods, back towards Rain. No one's there. My heart beats faster in panic, where is he? Oh please don't say he's dead, what will I do if he's dead? No, I don't actually need him. See, this is the exact reason you don't make friends with other tributes, because when they die, you break down. Even as I try to tell myself this, my heart beats loudly in my chest and my palms sweat with panic. He can't be dead; Rain is far too strong and skilled to have died now when there are still 10 of us left. I fight the urge to call his name in case there are still people around to hear me.

"Well, well, well..." A voice taunts from the shadows, I turn around, my knife raised. A tall, muscular, red headed boy steps out of the shadows, a lethal looking sword in one hand, Felix, the District 2 boy.

"I thought you would have died, that must mean my District partner is dead?" I nodded,

"Yeah, I killed her. Her blood is on my knife," I raise it up, hoping he can see the red stains. "Shame, this was new today from sponsors." Felix looks disgusted, the exact effect I wanted.

"Dandy is going to kill you and I can't wait to watch," he takes a step forward, stroking his blade. "But then again, I can kill you right now." Unexpectedly, he runs at me, slicing the sword along my arm. I scream, dropping my knife. The hilt of his sword smashes my head, knocking me to the floor; I pick up my knife and roll out of the way before he can attack me again. I stand up, my head spinning and stars dancing across my vision. The scent of blood fills my nose and I know my head is bleeding; I scowl, trying to adjust my feet so I can still run at him.

"If you think you can kill me that easily you have another thing coming." I spit, tightening the grip on my knife. Felix grins, his face blurring as my eyes come and go out of focus. Felix dances around me, trying to look for an opening to attack. I keep him in my line of sight, wondering how long I can do this for because my head is pounding and blood drops into my eyes. Suddenly Felix lunges at my left hip; he pushes me to the floor and swipes across my cheek with his sword. I boot my foot, catching his thigh, but he doesn't as much as wobble. I slash my knife at his upper arm and thrash about like a fish in a barrel. Felix places his sword next to my throat and lies on top of me so I can't move. I lie down on my back, facing my killer. I'm live on television and my poor brothers are going to have to watch my death. Felix grins, like a wild cat would over a poor mouse, he lifts up his sword, ready for the killing blow. Out of nowhere a heavy branch smacks Felix over the head, a boy stands over him. He has ashen skin, his hair is midnight black and wild like a birds nest, he turns to look at me, brown eyes filled with anger. I try and run but I can't feel my legs, I feel completely broken.

"Magnolia, come quick," He calls, a small girl rushes out of the trees. She sits down next to me, pressing something cold and wet next to my head. She looks exactly the same as the boy, the same skin and eyes; her hair is long and has tiny braids plaited in. She looks like a goddess. I want to run, to scream, to fight, but I can't and the cool thing pressed against my head is soothing. I try to form words, to plead with them not to kill me. But again, I simple can't, my head hurts too much and the pain behind my eyes becomes almost unbearable. As I fall into the swirling darkness, I hear a sound in the distance of a cannon firing, Felix is dead.


	11. Chapter 11

I wake up to the sound of murmuring. I open my eyes; two people are sitting beside a small fire, talking softly with each other. My heart immediately begins to pound. Where am I? What happened to me? I close my eyes, hoping they didn't notice me wake up. There's a slight pounding at the back of my head and my arm hurts, nothing that will kill me, I hope. I strain my ears, trying to hear the twin's people's conversation.

"…Oh Rodial shush, you really are judgmental."

"You saw them, Magnolia, there utter nutcases." Who are they talking about? Suddenly the talking stops and I hear someone stand up, walking towards me. Where's my knife, I open my eyes, only to look up at the pretty face of the person I believe to be Magnolia.

"Oh good, your awake." She says leaning down to me. "How are you feeling?"

"Bruised," I mutter, it's not like I'm going to tell _her _how I feel. It took me long enough to trust Rain and he saved me from Dandy and Titus. Actually where is Rain?

"You nearly died good job we happened to be following you at the time." Magnolia says I sit up, instantly feeling frightened.

"Following us, what do you mean following us?" Magnolia gently pushes me back down, smoothing back my hair. I shake my head, Magnolia removes her hand quickly, shocked at my reaction.

"Yeah following you, Mags and I have been keeping an eye on everyone since we got here. We know that Dandy ordered them three careers to come and kill you too, he spotted you from his little mountain hide-out, it's quite a clever spot, he can see you but you can't see him." The boy at the back of the room says his voice cold and hard. That fact sent shivers down my spine; Magnolia misunderstood the reaction and wrapped my coat tighter around me. The boy, Rodial, smiles at my reaction, walking a little closer to me as if to annoy me even more. As I stare at him, I notice something shiny glinted in the light from the fire, my knife.

"Hey, that's mine." I exclaim, sitting up and dislodging the coat Magnolia placed around me. "Give that back," Rodial sneers at me, enjoying my outburst.

"Feisty one, 'ain't she Mags?"

"Oh shut up, Rodial, give her knife back. Now." Rodial pulls my knife out of his loop and skids it across the floor to me. I snatch it up and stuff it into my jacket, giving Rodial my best I-really-do-not-like-you look.

"Oh and did you know. That guy, Titus, he's been eating people and he was coming after you and your little ally."

"I already knew that, actually." A small lie, I did know Titus was eating people but I didn't know me and Rain were next. Actually, how did Rodial even know that?

"We saw where you camped, far to close. He's already eaten three people; they have to Taser him to get the bodies away, it's really gruesome. The boy he killed today put up much more of a fight, which District was he from again Mags?"

"12, or did you not bother to watch the sky tonight?" Rodial ignored his sister. Mags places something on my head that cools down the stinging, she covers my arm in the same sticky stuff. Instantly I kind of feel bad, I had instantly started being harsh and horrible to these to people, well technically just Rodial, and they helped me after my encounter with Felix.

"Why did you help me? You could have run away and not bothered helping at all," Mags shakes her head.

"I could have never done that, we liked you the first time we saw you. Well, I did." Magnolia gave her brother a harsh look, Rodial shrugged. "Your sweet and the fact you cried made me like you even more, you're like the children I treat back in District 9." A horrible feeling seeps into my stomach, these people saved me and I lied. I'm not sweet at all; I killed a girl and laughed about it to her ally. And the crying was all a part of my game plan, I can't help feeling it worked a little too well.

"Who's dead then?" I ask, even though I don't want to know.

"The two Careers from two, which is good, I hated them both. They killed that little girl from 12; she was only young, and the boy from 4." A spark of hope flutters in the pit of my stomach, Rain isn't dead!

"Wow, three careers are gone in one day. How many of that alliance are left?"

"Just Dandy, his girlfriend and the small girl, Ash, but they don't leave the mountain; they get all the others to do their dirty work. I guess they have to get moving now they're all dead!" Rodial laughs, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

"How many of us are left then?" Magnolia frowns, counting.

"Well, there are us three, your ally, Titus, and the girl from 11. Altogether, there are 9 left." 9, not many left now. Well, I kept my promise; I wasn't one of the first to die.

"How many days have we been in here?"

"3 days, any more questions?" Rodial scowls, I glare at Rodial, returning his hostility.

"No, I'm all done thanks." Magnolia giggles and puts something in my mouth.

"Eat it all up; it'll help with the headache." I chew up the leaves, noticing my head is really throbbing now, like I've been hit by a train, a human train with a sword.

"Do you know where Rain is?"

"Rain oh; he must be your ally. No, Rodial tried to look for him before without any luck. Wherever he is, he's long gone. At least you know he's not dead." But he could be lying in a ditch somewhere bleeding and freezing, slowly dying. I yawn, feeling tired, I don't want to fall asleep, especially considering how much Rodial likes me, which is not at all, but I can't help my eyes starting to close and I let myself drift into sleep, letting the gentle murmur of Rodial and Magnolia talking fade into the background.

…

Something nudges my arm and I'm awake again. In the light of dawn I can see where I am. It's a small hole in the mountain with a ledge to cover up a lot of the entrance. Snow swirls outside but it doesn't make it inside the cave, I look around. Rodial is curled up in the corner, a wooly blanket wrapped around him. Magnolia is nowhere to be seen. Oh no, how long have I been left alone with him? Rodial moves his feet, nudging my arm. So that's what woke me up? I smile; Kovu always kicks in his sleep, the fights he and Diego used to get in over it. In fact, when I relax I can't help but move my toes, it's a habit. I wriggle away from Rodial, realizing that he mustn't find me a threat if he was sleeping so close to me, perhaps I should stop being so wary of these two, they seem like nice people. I don't know how long I was lying there for when Magnolia craws into the hole. She beams at me, her brown eyes lighting up.

"Your awake, how are you feeling?"

"Great, Magnolia, thank-you so much for helping me, you really didn't have to." Magnolia shrugs,

"I couldn't have left you; it's not in my nature. You were sick and I'm a healer, I have to make you better." I lump forms in my throat, but I don't cry. I made a promise to myself that while I was in the arena I _would not _cry. Magnolia starts a fire in the corner of the room, and I can't help wondering why both she and her brother are both in the arena.

"Did you and Rodial volunteer for the games?" I ask Magnolia looks up at me, shock clouding her face.

"No, our names were both reaped." My blood runs cold, how unlucky. I don't know what I'd do if Kovu or Diego were in the arena with me.

"It must be awful; knowing only one of you can come out." Magnolia nods, moving away from her now blazing fire to come and sit beside me.

"It's the worst thing possible; I'm going to die even if I win. The pain of losing my brother will be worse than death itself and I know he feels the same. The best we can hope for is to die together, quickly and peacefully. There's no point in going back to District 9 without Rodial, it won't be my home anymore." A salty tear runs down Magnolia's ashen face, I can't help myself, I wipe it away.

"Let's not think about that anyway, I bet you're hungry?" She reaches inside her coat and pulls out a strip of material. Inside are heaps of berries red, black and purple. They look delicious. She hands me some, the bread in my pocket feels heavier than normal. I know I have to thank this kind girl. I take the bread out of my pocket and give her a roll, her eyes widen.

"Where did you get this?"

"I'd rather not say," I smile and wink, she nods understanding.

"I can't possibly eat a whole one of these," She tears the roll in half offering one to me. I smile wrap the other roll and a half up and shove it in my pocket. Breakfast is the best I've ever eaten. Honey rolls with tasty berries that explode flavor in your mouth, all the more sweeter with the fact I'm starving and I think I've found a new friend. Rodial wakes up about an hour later, he eats the berries and a bit of roll Mags and I saved.

"We need to go hunting soon, we have nothing left."

"I'll go," I offer, Rodial raises an eyebrow.

"Seeing as you nearly died yesterday I think I should go, I'll be back soon." He reaches into his backpack and pulls out three knifes, then he's gone, out into the open. One thing I've noticed about Rodial, he doesn't talk much. Maybe that's because he's uncomfortable with me being here, or maybe that's just him?

"How did you get all of those knifes, by the way, I only managed to get one and Rain only got a backpack."

"Rodial is really fast, he got them before anyone noticed. I managed to claim a backpack as well, and a medicine kit." I'm really surprised, I never even remembered these two players and instantly I wish I had. They could win this thing. Well, one of them could, if they really wanted to live without each other.

"Me and Rain, we didn't notice you following us, how did you do it?" Magnolias eyes twinkle mysteriously.

"Now that would be telling, let's just say were fast and can climb trees better than you might think." Magnolia hands me a water bottle and I take a big swig.

"You healed me really well, I feel so much better." Magnolia grins,

"Thanks. It was a mixture of wild medicine and the stuff from my kit, also the fact you're strong and reacted well to my treatments. Unfortunately, you're going to have a scar along your cheek and arm, there's nothing I could do for it. But don't let that worry you; you'll still be very pretty." I wanted to laugh, I probably would have died if not for this girl and she thinks I'd be worried about some scars! I must have fallen asleep again because when I woke up Rodial was back; cooking meat on a small fire he'd built in the cave. Rodial smiled at me, which utterly confused and shocked me, I smiled shyly back.

"You're awake just in time, the meats nearly cooked. I was lucky, the rabbits were suicidal today, and they were all relaxing and filling their faces even when I'd just killed one of their friends." Magnolia rolled her eyes,

"I doubt rabbits would have thoughts like that Rodial," She pushed her brother playfully; he grinned and gave her a big hug. A massive pain stung my heart like it had just been ripped out; I missed Kovu and Diego so much. But I felt bad for these to twins as well, they were going to be split up by these games, at least I might actually see my brothers again, if Dandy didn't get me first.

"I think I'll be able to go outside tomorrow, if you want to continue your spying?" I sat up and walked towards the fire. Magnolia and Rodial laughed,

"You healed fast, but I don't think we should take any chances, this time yesterday you were bleeding to death. We'll see how you are tomorrow." I frowned, but decided against arguing because I doubted I would win against Magnolia. Rodial took some meat away from the fire and handed me some, I frowned, why was he suddenly being so nice?

"Thank-you," I said, taking a bite. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Magnolia nodding happily, she must have told Rodial to be nicer to me.

"I think she'll be ok to be honest, Mags, she's good at acting, she might have been pretending to die." Rodial said, taking a bite of rabbit leg. So they knew all along I was pretending to be weak, but why did they still save me? As if reading my mind Magnolia answered,

"We knew you weren't weak as soon as we saw you in the arena. You didn't cry once and you soothed Rain when he was in shock after seeing Titus. Also, you kind of killed a Career tribute all by yourself, you're far from weak."

"And you started arguing with me when you'd only just woken up from being knocked out." Rodial added. I couldn't help but crack a smile; I took another bite of the meat, feeling a lot better than I had this morning. These two people like me and I actually like them, even Rodial. I'm going to make sure it stays that way.


	12. Chapter 12

It had snowed even more over the night. The thick white blanket came right up to my shins, as far as the eye could see was white. All accept the forest, which I knew would be as green as ever.

"Are you sure you're well enough to come outside?" Magnolia asked me again, I nodded.

"Mags relax, she's had two days to heal and to me she looks fine. Besides, we're only getting food, what's the worst that can happen?" Rodial laughed, Magnolia glared at him.

"Let me think, we could get killed by careers or eaten by dogs-"

"-Or Titus,"

"Rodial that's not even funny!" Magnolia snapped I bit my lip to stop myself laughing. Although they were as close as anything, the twins didn't half argue all the time. Magnolia looped her arm through mine and we walked towards the mountains. It had been really silent since the Career attack, no cannons at all. I had been watching; hoping with every bone in my body Rain's face wouldn't appear. That's the reason why I wanted to come out of the cave; I needed to look for him to see if I could discover where he was. As I think about the short time I had with Rain, my stomach twists, I really do miss him, more than I thought I would. I couldn't be more glad I decided to ally with him, although, if I hadn't been his ally, I definitely wouldn't miss him to the point it actually pains me, maybe because I'd be dead? Rodial marched behind us, a heavy branch gripped in his hand, the exact same one he used to kill Felix. I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine when I thought of that boy, he had nearly killed me.

"I'm not cold!" I said quickly before Magnolia could ask, Rodial laughed. Magnolia sighed but still put a blanket around my shoulders. I shrugged it off.

"I'm fine, I promise I'm fine." Magnolia smiled,

"You think I haven't heard that before?" We stopped under a cover of rocks and filled up our water bottles.

"I know where we can go hunt but it's risky, very risky. The Career camp isn't far away so I don't think it's a good idea to take Cleo with us, after all, Dandy did try and get her killed." Magnolia nodded, turning to face me. I scowled, that was one of the pitfalls of staying with the twins- they always thought I was far too weak and vulnerable to do anything. I'm perfectly fine!

"Magnolia, please let me come with you, I am sick to death of that cave. I'm all cured-not that I was that hurt anyway." Magnolia raises an eyebrow and Rodial just laughs.

"No, you're staying with me and we're going to look for berries," I scowled again, giving Magnolia my best death stare. She shrugs it off, I'm sure she's used to patients arguing with her about being completely fine-which I am. I brushed a spec of falling snow from my coat and followed Magnolia down towards a line of trees, still sulking because I really wanted to go hunting. After all, that's what I'm best at and I've only been hunting once with Rain-I survived that and I was starving! As we neared the trees, I was surprised to see the branches were snow covered; I had assumed all trees would have that barrier thing Rain kept telling me about around them-weird. Magnolia clambered down a trail and stopped beside a bramble encrusted bush. I followed her, looking over my shoulder. I noticed this line of trees wasn't very big, I could already see the exit; it would have made an awful camp. I put my hand in the bush and began picking out red berries which Magnolia insisted were safe. After about half an hour of picking we folded the berries up and began to trudge back towards our cave. My heart felt heavier and heavier every step I took, I had no idea where Rain was. Magnolia noticed my sad expression and misinterpreted it as pain-which in a way; it kind of was I was in pain over losing my ally and having no idea whether he was alive or dead.

"You're injury's aren't hurting you is it?" I shook my head, looking at the floor. "Oh, it's your ally. He's not dead, you know that," Magnolia gave me a big hug. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying, how stupid was that? Crying for a boy who I could never stay with, it's best he's gone now rather than later. The best I can hope is someone will kill him quickly. My heart lurches at the thought of Rain being dead and the tears threaten to spill over, but I _will not _cry, I don't want my brothers worrying about me even more if they see me in tears, which I know for certain they will. I turn around suddenly, a feeling of unease spreading across me. Like someone just walked across my grave as Diego would say. I felt like I was being watched. Magnolia stopped walking, turning to look at me.

"Come on! We need to get a fire started or my toes are going to fall off, I'm not even joking." I frowned, gazing through the trees.

"I'm coming," I lumbered towards Magnolia and swear I heard someone sigh.

…

Rodial walked back into the cave, snowflakes tangled in his dark hair. I glared at him enviously; I wish I could have gone hunting. He shook his head like a dog and dropped two rabbits beside Magnolia.

"Wow, its cold outside. Snowing even more now, do they want us to all freeze to death?" Rodial sat down next to me, popping a berry in his mouth. I placed my hands next to the fire, trying to warm up my frozen fingers. Magnolia spread something over my arm, I raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I know! But I need to put it on your scratches or they won't heal and get infected." I sighed, defeated; I've had enough of persuading Magnolia that I'm perfectly fine. The three of us sit around the fire, eating berries and rabbit. Snow swirled outside the cave entrance like comets, another two or three inches would be waiting for us tomorrow-great. The cave grew darker and then there was a sudden burst of light. We all sat up, looking outside at the screen. A pretty girl's face was shown from District 11. No Rain-again.

"I didn't hear a cannon fire for her," Rodial frowned

"Mhmm," Magnolia said, her face crumpled in confusement.

"What's up?" Her brother asked, putting his arm round her.

"Just thinking about Titus, he won't have any more people in the woods. I think he got that girl," My stomach twisted.

"Rain, he could get Rain. He might be injured somewhere, easy prey for him." Rodial looked at his feet, admitting my worst fear.

"Well, he won't get Rain! I'm going to look for him," I exclaimed, standing up Rodial shook his head and pushed me back down.

"Don't be stupid, you'll freeze to death out there!"

"Not to mention careers could easily pick you off, there's three of them and only one of you."

"I can fend for myself, you know, I'm not completely hopeless." Magnolia ignores me, instead turning to look at her feet.

"I need to rest, my toes hurt really bad. I think I have frost nip and I need to treat it or it'll turn into frost bite and my toes will go black and drop off!"

"And breath," Rodial chuckled, Magnolia slapped his arm playfully.

"It could happen..." I stared out into the snow storm, he was out there somewhere, cold and alone, or dying, or getting hunted by a cannibal. All of the options hurt me to think about.

"We should rest, I'm exhausted." Rodial yawned and walked to his bit of the cave. Magnolia scraped the fire so it would stay in the stone circle and followed Rodial. I listened until I was sure the two twins were asleep. I picked up my knife, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and went outside. I could hardly see a few centimeters in front of me. It was just a white wall of cold. But something deep inside me stopped me from going back to the cave. I walked ahead, my feet sinking into the fresh snow. I might have been classified as suicidal by the Capitol audience, but I knew my District would understand and more importantly, my brothers. We are all loyal to our friends and I couldn't sit eating rabbit and berries when Rain was out here. I stopped on the edge of the forest. The snow hadn't come here at all; there really was a barrier-but why? I took a deep breath and walked into the trees. I was thankful for them, I felt like more like a hunter rather than prey, which was stupid seeing as Titus was most probably here. I broke into a run, sprinting towards where mine and Rain's camp used to be. I gazed up at the tree, nothing.

"Rain?" I whispered, silence. I would never get used to trees being so quiet; it really wasn't natural, before I realized it I was crying, no sobbing. Pain from deep inside my chest came bubbling out. I feel to my hands and knees, curling up into a ball, feeling broken and defeated. I guess I had broken my promise about not crying, my tears streamed down my face, blurring my vision. Just come Titus, kill me. I've given up. I miss Rain and I've let him down. I miss Rain so much. I buried my face in the mud and leaves, trying to quiet my sobs with no success. A shadow fell across my body, games up. I'm dead.

"What are you doing?" I sat up, wiping tears and mud from my eyes. Strong arms pulled me to my feet in a massive hug. I was frozen in complete shock. The arms released me and lifted my head up so our eyes met hazel on blue. I lurched into reality, wrapping my arms around him.

"I-I thought you w-were dead!" Rain griped me tighter to his chest.

"No, I'm here. Cleo I've missed you more than you can believe. Actually, tell me how on earth you're still alive."

"Long story or short?"

"Tell me everything you can as quick as you can."

"Well, when you told me to run the girl from 2 chased me. I killed her. I came back looking for you and Felix found me, he nearly killed me if not for Rodial. He smashed him over the head with a branch. His sister, Magnolia, treated me and I've been camping with them." Rain looked down at me, tracing his finger along my cheek where Felix has sliced me with his sword.

"Your face..."

"Doesn't matter."

"It does to me, look what they've done to it."

"I don't care Rain, I'm alive and so are you. That's all that matters." I was surprised by how much truth was behind my words. I didn't care what happened now, Rain was alive and fine by the looks of it. Suddenly I became very aware about what I looked like, my face was streaked with tears and mud and leaves littered my hair. I self-consciously picked one out; ashamed I had broken down so easily. I suppose The Hunger Games had finally got to me.

"Well, if you want to stay alive we had better get out of these woods. Titus is still here." Rain gripped my hand and we raced out of the trees and back into the snow storm.

"I'll take you to the twins, their asleep and will be mad at me for going outside but Magnolia won't let an injured person die." I led the way through the snow, stumbling over rocks. Did I even know where I was? I reached out a hand, touching rock. I found my way to the cave by touch only. Magnolia and Rodial were sitting up; their brown eyes wide in fear.

"Cleo! What are you doing you stupid girl?" Rodial said, leaping to his feet. He pulled my inside the cave and gave me a big hug. I froze, caught completely off guard; I hadn't expected a hug from Rodial. Realizing what he was doing, Rodial dropped me sharpish. Rain stood awkwardly at the entrance.

"It's him. She found him just like she said she would! Come in, you must be ill." Magnolia changed into the healer she was back in District 9. She settled Rain down on a blanket and examined his wounds.

"Well you're in a lot better shape than Cleo, but just to be on the safe side." Rodial gave Rain some water and rabbit while Magnolia put sticky stuff on his cuts, just like she had me. I sat beside Rain, gripping his hand like a vice. Eventually, Magnolia was done.

"Now you have to sleep, doctors' orders."

"I'm rested enough; seriously you should have seen the other guy. Well you probably did, he was in the sky." I couldn't help but laugh at Rain, I was giddy with relief. Rain lay down on his blanket, pulling me beside him. I feel asleep in the safety of Rain's arms, more relaxed than I had been for ages.


	13. Chapter 13

Kovu and Diego were sitting around a posh black fireplace, eating roasted vegetables and beef. They smiled at me, their eyes filled with joy. Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me onto a plush red sofa, just like the one in the justice building. Rain smiled at me, handing me a piece of bread drizzled in honey. I smiled gratefully at him, tearing the bread in half and offering him some. Magnolia and Rodial walked into the room, bringing the smells of herbs and plants in with them. The room was filled with easy chatter and happiness. I smiled, looking into the eyes of everyone I loved, Kovu, Diego, Magnolia, Rodial and Rain. Then slowly one by one, a person disappeared, first Rodial and Magnolia, then Rain. I clutched the air were he had just been, screaming for him to come back. Kovu's hand brushed my shoulder and he gave me a weak smile. I tried to clutch his shirt, to beg him to stay with me and never leave me but he too evaporated into dust. I spun around, staring at the room I was sitting so happily in. The floral wallpaper peeled off the walls and turned into a cloud of smoke, blowing hot ash in my face. The floorboards crumbled from right underneath me, the walls caved in and the whole room fell in on itself. I screamed, begging for someone to self but there was no one there, no body to help me.

I bolted upwards out of my sleep, my heart pounding. I was back in the cave, with Magnolia, Rain and Rodial. No peeling room. It was a just dream.

"Cleo, are you ok?" Rain asked he was sitting next to the fire with Rodial eating the remains of last night's dinner. I took a few seconds to answer, catching my breath from my nightmare.

"Just a really bad dream," I replied. I stood up and walked towards them, picking up a piece of rabbit.

"Mags and I are going out again, we'll need more food now Rain's here. We won't be long and you're not to leave. Mags say's you have a bit of a cough, Cleo, your breathing was really sore last night, it woke me up." I bit my lip, embarrassed. The reason my breathing was sore was because I was screaming in my dreams, nothing to do with a cough.

"Sorry about that,"

"No worries, it doesn't matter." Rodial chuckled, ruffling my hair. I smiled weakly, still imagining him disappearing. Magnolia's head popped into the cave,

"Morning Cleo, the snows finally stopped so we can go out now Rodial." Rodial wiped his fingers on his trousers and followed his sister out of the cave. I glanced at them, watching them trail away from me towards the mountains; every step they took away from me filled my heart with more dread. I had a really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something really and was going to happen. I tried to shake the feeling away; it was just the dream that's made me feel so paranoid, just a dream-nothing more.

"Those two are so kind, you're lucky they found you."

"I know, their real friends." And it's true, they were. I had always like Magnolia, it was hard not too; she's kind and loving, always ready to help you as soon as she could. But it was only recently that I had begun to like Rodial, he was a lot harsher and more judging than his sister, but as soon as he saw I wasn't a threat, he had begun to show me his true personality-he was funny and kind, just like his sister. Rain and I ate the rest of the rabbit and sat around the fire, talking about life in the Capitol, before we came to the hellish arena. I talked about how much I loved honey and bread, how Rain nearly fell out of his chariot on the opening night, my constant battles with the shower as I tried to get it to work. Rain laughed when I told him that, he had figured it out straight away, although he didn't know there was more than one flavor of shower gel. Another flurry of snow gently fell to the ground, swirling into the mouth of our cave without getting in too far.

"It just keeps on falling, I've had enough of snow to last me a life time." Rain sighed, staring into the white storm. I sat forward, a cold feeling spreading through my body. There was a dark shadow in the distance, and it didn't look familiar.

"Oh look, I think Rodial's coming back now." Rain said gesturing to the figure in the snow he had spotted as well.

"I don't think that's Rodial..." My heart started to hammer against my chest, no, it really wasn't our ally. This person was too big to be Rodial, and where was Magnolia; the twins wouldn't split up, especially considering they were going hunting near the Careers base. The figure came closer and closer, something heavy clasped in its hands. A scream caught in my throat. I knew who it was. Titus. Rain grabbed his sword from his belt loop, I picked up my knife. Titus came closer and closer, through the snow I could see he was grinning.

"Hello there, neighbors." He called, his voice was not at all what I expected, happy and lighthearted. "You moved away from me without saying good-bye, I think that's a bit rude." I wanted to scream at him but Rain gave me a warning look.

"What do you want, Titus?" Rain asked his voice blunt and harsh. I personally thought he was being too friendly, why on earth would you stop to have a chat with a raging lunatic who eats people?

"Now, now, there's no need to be hateful is there?" I clenched my fist, I really hated this boy. He sauntered towards the mouth of cave, Rain stood up, raising his sword. I gripped my knife tighter in my hand,

"Take another step and you'll regret it!" I hissed, adding as much acid to my threat as possible.

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is," I growled, I stood a little closer to Rain, hoping we wouldn't have a massive fight on our hands.

"Wow, you're a fighting pair, a weak little girl who cry's over her brothers and a boy who nearly fell out of the chariot. I'm scared to death!" Titus sneered, taking another small step. I was surprised at what this beastly boy looked like. His face was sunken, like the starving children you see in District 7. His hair was a dark caramel colour and fell across his eyes which were a hollow black. Titus smiled, showing a perfect row of pearly white teeth. My stomach churned, he used them teeth to- I didn't even want to think about it.

"Are you scared little girl?" He asked, looking directly at me. I felt my blood boil and without a second thought I sprang out of the cave, slashing my knife and raking it down Titus arm, he leapt back, taken a back. Rain hand quickly grabbed me, pulling me back to the safely on the cave.

"Don't," Rain whispered harshly in my ear. I ignored it, my whole body shaking with anger. I had only killed one person so far and I wanted to sink my knife into that boy's throat more than anything. He deserved to die.

"Ha! You think you can beat me, I've killed four people already and I think you look two look quite tasty." My stomach twisted and I thought I was going to be sick. I swallowed down the feeling, hissing between clenched teeth.

"Come and try to get us, _Titus. _You'll have a fight on your hands, skeleton boy. Is there a shortage of poor children in your area because it doesn't look like you're getting fed much?" Titus raised his mace, charging forward. Rain leapt in front of me, but I elbowed him in the ribs and stepped forward. Titus' mace swung for my head, I raised my knife and the chain tangled around it. I lifted my foot and booted him as hard as possible in the stomach muscles.

"Cleo!" Rain cried, just as I heard a deep rumble echoes through the mountains, sending vibrations across the arena floor. Titus glared at me, pouncing forward, utterly undistracted by the sound. Tried to raise his mace again, but the knife was lodged tightly and it affected his wing. I dodged, sliding across the floor, at the same time I stole a glance at the snowy peaks. That's when I saw it, a stampede of white racing along the mountain. Titus seemed to have noticed it at the same time as me, because he quickly forgot our fight and froze in sheer panic. I shrieked, my blood running cold. I was going to be buried alive! Suddenly two strong hands grabbed the back of my coat and tugged me into the cave, just as the massive avalanche hurtled down the mountains. I stared at the barricade of white, my body trembling and my breath clouding in front of my face. Suddenly Rain spun around to look at me, his face furious.

"What were you playing at? You could have died; I was _this close _to losing you!" I stare blankly at him, a tight feeling spreading across my chest. Suddenly I screamed, lunging forward and racking my dirt finger nails at the snow trapping me in the cave.

"Cleo?" Rain says, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. I continue to scream, clawing and digging, trying to escape. "Cleo, calm down. It's okay, were okay." Rain soothes, grabbing my shoulder and tearing me around to look at him. Fury had faded from his blue eyes and was replaced with concern.

"We're trapped…"

"We're alive." Rain wraps his arms around my body; I rest my head on his chest, beginning to calm down. Suddenly Rain looks up at me, his blue eyes lighting up in realization.

"It was a trap, all the snow; the barrier in the woods. It all leads to the same thing. They wanted to kill Titus." I raised my head, looking directly at him.

"Explain."

"Well, eating people will definitely not go down well with the capitol, and seeing as no one would dare go hunting for Titus the Game makers would have to do something. I think they put the barrier up in the woods so people would have to leave to find food, including Titus. They kept the snow levels way up so whenever the time was right an avalanche could be created." I stared at Rain, shocked at how easily he had worked out the Game maker's plan that was it, the plan was to kill Titus, nothing to do with the Careers. I rubbed my arm, it felt like I'd put it in fire.

"Is your arm burning?" Rain asked, I nodded, "Mine too, they can't track us. The snow has interfered with the signals; I think we have about an hour of audience free time." I let out a deep breath, Titus was most probably dead and no career could get us because we are trapped not to mention I could say anything and not worry about the consequences. But what do I do now?

"You hunt illegally don't you?" Rain asked,

"Yeah, but doesn't everyone?"

"True, District 10 has wonderful blackbirds, delicious in soup." I smiled looking up at Rain who gave me a cheeky wink. Suddenly his face grew serious,

"Cleo, I want to go home, back to my District." My eyes flickered towards the sword in his hand, would he kill me now he could easily do it. Rain's blue eyes widened in horror and he threw the sword towards the back of the cave. "Cleo, I want to go home but I would never ever hurt you. If it comes down to me and you, I will kill myself so you can win and that's a promise. I want you to win, to carry on living." I couldn't speak. I was so overcome by emotion; this boy who had a life back home would end it all just so I could go back to my brothers.

"Why?" I asked, looking at the floor.

"Why?" Rain chuckled, "Because, well, because I would." He cut off, looking at the dying fire. I decided to leave it at that. I reached inside my coat pocket and pulled out my bread rolls, I handed the full one to Rain who looked at me with wide eyes.

"I got them from James on the final day in the capitol; he knew how much I loved bread and honey." I felt my eyes filling up as I remembered my mentor, I missed him. I just want to get out of this arena. Rain tore the roll in half, insisting I share it with him. We ate our bread in silence, his arm around my waist; my head on his shoulders, watching the snow gently melt away.


	14. Chapter 14

Rain and I slashed at the remaining snow barrier with our blades, sending chips of ice flying everywhere. I closed my eyes, so no small clumps could blind me. We had been hacking at the snow for at least an hour, and it had only just started crumbling away. Rain pushed the last of the snow over and toppled out into the open. I let out a deep breath, my panic fading away. I felt really claustrophobic in that cave to the point of screaming. Rain looked up at me, his blue eyes full of concern. I was thankful to have him there with me, holding my hand and telling me I'll be out soon, who knows what might have happened if he wasn't there?

"Are you ok?" I give a weak nod.

"Where are we going to go now?"

"To the woods, we can go to our old camp. I bet my last bit of water we'll find prey in there," Rain gave me a cheeky grin and we walked towards the line of trees. Rain walked close to me, wrapping his fingers around my hand, I look up at him, a fluttery feeling filling my stomach-something I had _never _felt before. Rain smiled down at me, I looked away, my cheeks blushing. We walked hand in hand towards a line of trees, sloshing over wet slushy snow where the avalanche had been.

"Do you think Titus' body has been taken away?" I asked,

"Of course, the snow where he was buried has been completely melted; the hovercraft would have heated up the snow."

"Ugh, they could have melted the snow around our cave; we were stuck in there for hours." Rain grinned down at me, a wicked glint lighting his eyes.

"Didn't you enjoy the privacy?" I smile and roll my eyes, the privacy where all we did was say bad things about the Capitol which would have gotten us killed if anyone heard-which I'm hoping no one did. Suddenly Rain stopped, pointing in the distance. A tall, dark haired girl was hunched over an unmoving body. My heart skipped a beat and my body seemed to freeze in place. Rain gripped my hand tightly as we stared at the hunched over figure.

"Is it her?" Rain whispered, I released Rain's hand like it was a hot poker and raced forward.

"Magnolia," I exclaimed, racing towards the figure. Magnolia looked up at me; her brown eyes were red with crying. The figure lying still beside her was Rodial. His hair wet and small flecks of ice littering his body, his ashen skin was pale and his lips had turned a frosty blue. I slid to the floor, brushing a strand on chocolate brown hair away from his forehead.

"What on earth happened?" I gasped; Magnolia started sobbing, bending over her twin brother.

"We were coming back a-and we saw T-Titus. Rodial ran ahead t-to come and protect you, b-but the snow-" Magnolia looked up at me, her eyes reflecting pure pain that tore at my heart and stung my eyes with tears. "It was so f-fast, I didn't even have e-enough time to warn him before i-it buried him completely." I crouched down beside Magnolia, wrapping my arms around her shaking shoulders.

"I dug him out, and he was still alive. H-he was still breathing; h-he spoke to me."

"What did he say?"

"T-that he was s-sorry he couldn't have p-protected me further." She sobbed, wetting my coat with tears. Rain hovered beside us, sword raised in case we were attacked.

"You can cure him Magnolia; you're basically a magician with medicine! If anyone can make him better, I know you can." Magnolia shook her head, a tiny braid falling across her eyes.

"N-no I can't, he's dying. My twin brother is going to die and there's nothing I-I can do!" Magnolia screamed, looking directly at the sky. "Is this entertainment? Do you l-love watching this? A poor, innocent boy is dying and he w-won't even get a funeral, he'll be shipped off home in a-a box without even a blessing in his name. I-I hate you all! I hate every single o-one of you who watches this, who l-looks forward to the games. You are evil; you're all murderers, and dirty m-murderers!" A salty tear fell slowly from my eye as it dawned on me that this boy, this person who I had argued with, had once felt wary whenever I was left alone with, but had looked after me and helped nurse me back to health was going to die. I cradled Rodial's head; this boy saved my life, without him I would be dead and buried under the trees of District 7, my own siblings shouting abuse at the capitol. I took off my coat and wrapped it around his shoulders, straightening out his limbs so he looks like he just fell asleep. His chest rises and falls with painful jerks; he can't breathe properly. Magnolia slides down beside me, she strokes her brother's face, murmuring soft and sweet memories to him. A cozy fire in the woods, the first time they ate chocolate, late nights spent gossiping about the people in District 9. They sound so special I feel rude to be listening, but Magnolia reaches out for my hand, squeezing it gently.

"Thank-you Rodial, for protecting me from Felix, without you I would be dead. You have been so kind to me and I know there's no way I could repay that, not in a million years." I brush a tear from my scarred cheek, "It has been an honor to know you. I only wish we had longer together because I know in you I found a friend, perhaps a best friend." Magnolia gives me a watery smile,

"Thank-you," She murmurs. "Rodial really liked you, I know you two did argue, but he admired that, he liked the fact you weren't afraid to argue your point of view, he respected you. I think you were like an adopted sister to him in the end, to both of us." A stabbing feeling hit my chest and I felt like I couldn't breathe, just like Rodial. It felt like a knife was twisting in my chest, lodging deeper and deeper until the pain would surely kill me. But it wouldn't kill me because the pain wasn't physical, it was mental, it was grief and I had never felt anything so raw and powerful in all my life, and I hardly even knew this boy.

…

We must have sat there for hours in silence. It didn't feel right to move, to speak, and even to breathe. This was our sign of respect, to sit and watch the life of such a generous boy drain away. Eventually cannon fired, signaling the loss of Rodial. Magnolia let out a choked cry and the flood of tears started again. Seeing this once strong girl crumble in pain was heart breaking, I wanted to help her but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't save her brother.

"Magnolia, we have to leave now, so the Capitol can take the body away." Rain said softly, placing his hand on Magnolias shoulder. She shook her head, curling up beside Rodial.

"I won't leave him, I can't leave him! He is my whole life; I refuse to let the evil tyrants take him away from me while I scurry around playing their game. I won't play their game a moment longer, I quit!" I stare blankly at Magnolia, her hand gripped tightly in Rodial's and her eyes flaming pools of anger and grief. I remember a distant conversation from a few days ago, when I first met Magnolia and Rodial. I had asked her if they had both volunteered, she said they hadn't. And then the last piece of the twins complicated puzzle slotted together, Magnolia and Rodial would both die in the games, even if one of them won. Magnolia's life would not go on once her brother was dead; her fire that lightened everyone around her was dying. I stand up, brushing a leaf from my coat.

"We'll leave you now Magnolia, I just want you to remember how much I care about you." Magnolia sits up, her intense brown eyes focused on me. "You're a wonderful friend Magnolia and those few days we spent together were the best of my life, I don't want you to forget that." Magnolia smiles at me and reached up to give me a hug. It's not a warm or comforting hug, it's a painful, desperate hug, and the very last embrace friends will ever share together. I can feel her tears on the side of my neck' my chest tightens and a sob rakes up my throat and out of my mouth, a few tears roll down my own face, dropping to the frozen, muddy earth. Magnolia releases me, gently wiping my eyes and smiling gently.

"Good luck, Cleo." She says quietly, I bite my lip and nod, my hazel eyes clouding with tears. I straighten myself up and stand beside Rain. I turn my head away to look at him; I can't stand to look at Magnolia's pain filled face anymore, it's heartbreaking. But I know if Rodial was Kovu I'd be just like her, falling to pieces in front of an audience of thousands. Magnolia reaches out for Rain and gives him a quick hug. Rain gently pats her back, and releases her. Magnolia glances back up at me,

"You have to win. You have to win for me and Rodial, for all our friends and family back home. You have to win for all the people who can't; I know they won't get a better victor." Her eyes shift to look up at Rain, her face suddenly fierce. "Protect her, don't let him get to her, he'll kill her in the most horrible way and you know he will! Please, don't let the Careers win, one of you has to win this thing."

"I will, I promise." Rain whispers, Magnolia smiles warmly.

"Thank-you, both of you," She lies back down, her hand finding Rodial's and her eyes looking up at the fake sky. I place my knife next to her frail body, stand up, and walk away through the trees. A few second later a cannon fires. Rain grabs my hand; he's shaking like a leaf. We both pause and glance up at the sky, just as a hovercraft appears and lifts up two bodies, carrying them away to be placed in simple wooden boxes.

"Are you ok?"

"No." My reply is blunt but I don't care, what's to care about when your two friends have just died? We trudge back to our old camp, Rain climbs the tree but I don't follow. I stare up at the sky, adrenaline and grief pulsing through my body.

"James, I need a knife. I know we have sponsors because Dandy is a Career so there's no excuse; it had better be a good one as well!" I sit down, crossing my legs and wait. Rain leaps out of the tree and sits down beside me.

"We end this tomorrow. I'm sick to death of these trees and the mountains and everything that's in it. I want to go home and if it means I'm in a wooden box, so be it." Rain doesn't speak. A silver parachute sails down from the sky, landing at my feet.

"Thank-you," I call, scaring a bird. I un-wrap the parachute and examine my third knife of the games. It's sharp, just like a meat cleaver, perfect for hacking of Dandy's head.

"We'd better get some sleep then; after all, we have a busy day tomorrow." I chirp my voice light and cheery. I must sound like I've gone insane, maybe I have? But then again, who can blame me. Anyone he kept their sanity in these Games must have been crazy to begin with. I climb the tree, strap myself in with my spare belt and watch the sky, unable to peel the sly smile of my face. My name is Cleopatra Ivy; I pretended to be weak and nearly got myself killed twice times for my effort. I am 15, I'm from District 7 and I have two brothers who made me promise to win. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.


	15. Chapter 15

I'm up before the sun has fully risen, wide awake and ready to end the game. I swallow down the last of my bread rolls and practice spearing trees with my new knife. I strangely feel full of energy, like I could easily run a marathon. Rain watches me warily while he packs his backpack, he looks almost afraid of me which makes me feel powerful, I quite like the feeling. I guess I am still the leader of this alliance. Good, I had better be.

"I guess you're ready then?" He asks I smile up at him from the ground.

"I'm getting out of here today so the sooner we get going the sooner I can leave." Rain flinches and I instantly feel bad. I didn't say we. "I mean, both of us will be leaving, just not together and-"

"I know what you meant, Cleo. Relax, I told you I would help you win and I mean it." He leaps from the tree landing neatly beside me. I frown, a heavy sinking feeling spreading in my stomach. A clock is ticking down, it always has been but only now I've become aware of it-I only have so much time left with Rain. I take a deep breath, and we walk out of the woods for the very last time.

"Did Dandy die last night?" I ask, Rain laughs nervously.

"No, so it's still three against two." Rain reaches down and grabs my cold hand in his warm one, I smile up at him, but it doesn't reach my eyes. I'm afraid, and after Rodial and Magnolia both died, I'm still grieving. We stop walking once we reach the edge of a mountain trail; I haven't been here since the start of the games and my legs are like jelly. Rain takes the lead, swiftly climbing up the rocky mountain track. I clamber after him, stumbling and grazing my knee a few times. Eventually we reach the top. It's so beautiful up here. Golden feathered birds of prey soar and swoop in the sky hunting rabbits; the ground is covered in a thick white blanket of snow with a few sprouts of green plants, desperately trying to grow. The sky is a brilliant blue, a perfect contrast against the white floor. Wind rips through my hair, blowing it behind me like a veil and cooling my cheeks and nose, I close my eyes, enjoying the soft scent of wind, snow and earth. I glance behind me, a gasp catching at the back of my throat. Endless seas of green pine trees gently sway in the distance; dots of scraggly rocks jut out of the landscape, most probably small caves and ledges. A trail of two footprints traipse across the un-ruined snow, side by side, one small, one large, Mine and Rain's. The sight of those footprints make tears sting my eyes, I look up at Rain, wrapping my arms around his waist. He smiles warmly at me, surprised at the sudden embrace.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I nod it really is spectacular. Trust the Game Makers to create something so perfect in a place so horrific. Rain plants a kiss on top of my head and glances out at the distance with me for a few extra precious moments. I sigh loudly, it seems a shame I trekked up to this paradise when I'm about to kill people.

"Where are we going now?" Rain asks his voice barely heard over the roaring wind.

"We go to their camp and fight," I can't believe I'm doing this. I seemed to have lost all my spirit in the woods because I'm shaking all over and not just from the cold, perhaps it's the rush of mountain air that has made me want to lie down and surrender, that makes me want to declare peace with my enemy's. But I can't think like that, thoughts of that kind are what will get you killed in the Hunger Games. Rain hugs me tighter in a reassuring hug.

"I think their camps lower down, the winds far too harsh up here for them to sleep nearby; they would all freeze to death if they stayed here."

"Shame, it might have been nice if they all froze to death, slow and painful." I guess the scenery hasn't made me soft after all, I still want to stain the snow with the blood of people I hate, simply because they are what stands between me and my brothers. Rain drops my hand and together we sprint across the snow, searching for the Careers camp.

…

Rain and I crouch down low, half hidden behind a large boulder on the edge of a flat plain of land away from the angry wind. I stare out in front of me, the plain is covered in scraggly bushes that would provide awful shelter from wild animals; weapons have been thrown carelessly all around the clearing and there's a few small pile of food that wouldn't have lasted much longer. We've been sitting here for a while now and there seems to be no sign of Dandy, in fact, the only guard is the small District 4 girl called Ash. I roll my knife around my fingers, just one throw and I can take her down, I know I can. I'm surprised Ash is actually a Career at all, she's not only small but very thin, with high cheekbones and dark rings under her eyes. Ash's face has been cut many times because there are dried up scratches across her cheeks and lips, along her left arm is a massive, deep wound that appears to have been caused by a sword. Ash wanders around, occasionally kicking a rock or throwing her carving knife at a backpack. Where are Dandy and the other girl? They could be watching us right now and we wouldn't know it. I look up at Rain, whose eyes are focused on Ash with mild curiosity.

"Ready?" I whisper, he turns his attention towards me. He gives a brief nod, raising his sword. I scowl at him and shake my head,

"She's mine." I leap to my feet and throw my knife. It hits Ash exactly where I wanted it to, the very center of her back. She falls to the floor, a high pitched scream escaping her chapped lips. I rush out from behind the boulder and run towards the writhing girl. Ash grabs my knife and rips it out of her back, making her wound even more lethal. Surely someone told her to never take the weapon out of your body? She attempts to slice me with it but she's already lost too much blood, she sinks to the floor, breathing rapidly. I stare down at her, pity spreading across my face. Poor thing, she really was an awful Career. A cannon fire a few seconds later announces that she's dead. I pick up my knife, wiping the blood away with the bottom of my coat. Rain places his hand on my shoulder,

"We have to get out of here, the others will come soon and we don't want to meet with them in a territory they know too well." We jog down the side of the mountain towards our line of trees, only stopping to catch our breath when the mountains are out of sight. Rain looks me up and down,

"You're not hurt?"

"No, she didn't even touch me." Before I can say anything else I hear a branch snap in the distance, I leap to my feet, knife ready to throw. A slim blond figure emerges out of the trees, her blond hair tied up into a twisty bun, blue eyes gleaming with a lust to kill.

"Well, you killed Ash then? Good, she was utterly useless, couldn't even protect our food from a hungry tribute. I would have killed her ages ago but Dandy told me she was of use, you've done me a massive favor in killing her."

"Your very welcome." I sneer; the blond girl scowls at me, taken aback by my response.

"Pearl, don't talk to our prey." A deep voice laughs a shiver of dread runs down my spine. Dandy, he knew we were here. Rain hovers beside me; his face is stern and almost lethal looking. I'm glad he's my ally and not with them. Pearl looks across at Dandy, but his eyes are firmly on me.

"Cleopatra! Long time no see, you know, you really should have given us a visit."

"Oh you know I really haven't had the time to catch up with maniacs, otherwise, I really would have stopped by." Dandy chuckles softly clearly amused by my response. I feel Rain shift beside me, uncomfortably. Pearl glances across at Dandy, who gives a small nod and then she races at me. I dodge her attack and turn around to sprint further into the trees, Pearl chases but she's not fast enough to catch up. If we fight, we fight in my territory, the trees.

"Are you scared squirrel girl?" Anger ignites inside me like a bonfire. Kovu's nickname for me was Squirrel, how dare she use it. I jump upwards, grabbing a branch in my hand and lifting myself up into a tree. I perch on the branch, glaring down at Pearl. A second later, I leap from the tree, slicing my knife in a wide arch that hits Pearls arm. She shrieks in annoyance, lunging at me, two wicked looking knifes held in each hand. I swing my left fist, smacking her across her face; she grits her teeth, and charges at me thighs. She pins me to the floor, cutting my face with her knife. I head butt her and wriggle away from her grasp, turning around; I kick her in the back. She quickly recovers and stands up, brushing dirt of her grey coat. I leap, slicing my knife across Pearls stomach and knocking her to the ground. A sharp shooting pain hits my pelvis like an explosion, she's stabbed me. I punch her face and knee her in the gut; Pearl lets out a pained breath and rolls away. But I'm not done with her, not in the slightest. I grab her arm, pulling her into a headlock move Kovu used on me about a million times. I drag my knife across her forehead, a powerful back kick hits my stomach and I lose my tight grip. Blood trickles down Pearls face but it's not a deep enough cut to do any damage. I run towards a sturdy oak tree hoping to climb it for a quick recovery and to rethink my attacks, but a hand grips my legs. I scream, kicking and thrashing, escaping the Careers grip and swiftly climb the tree. To my surprise Pearl climbs up after me, using her knifes to propel herself higher. I stop on a thick branch, looking down at her. Pearl grits her teeth and lashes out with her knifes. I kick her arm away and one knife hurtles to the floor. I drop from my branch, landing squaring on her shoulders. She buckles under my weight and her feet slip from the branch, I fall slightly to the side and wrap my arms around the tree's trunk. Falling, Pearl try's to grab something but it's no use. She lands heavily on her back, one leg stuck out at an awkward angle. I climb down the tree as fast as I can, leaping beside Pearl. She stumbles to her knees, breathing heavily. Her knife strikes my hip; I kick her over and place my knee on her stomach. My knife positioned against her throat. Pearl squirms, trying to escape but she isn't going anywhere fast. I smile,

"Easy kill am I?" Pearl spits a shower of saliva in my face.

"That, is disgusting, no wonder you Careers have no friends, spitting in people's faces is just plain dirty." Pearl try's to lift up her hand to punch me but my feet pins it down. She squeals in pain, but manages to keep the sly, expression on her bleeding face. I grin down at her and slowly rake my knife across her throat. Her blue eyes widen in horror as blood gurgles down her neck; her body goes limp and a cannon fires. I laugh out loud in relief and stand up, wiping Pearls spit from my face. She's dead, the only Career left is Dandy-Rain and I can easily kill him together. Rain, my stomach twists in fear and I hurtle through the trees back towards my friend, ready to help him slaughter our enemy.


	16. Chapter 16

I burst through the trees, branches scratching my face, my heart racing and my palms sweating. Pure adrenaline pumps through my veins after killing Pearl, I feel as if I can murder _every single _Career the Capitol has to offer. I emerge from the wood only to see a figure lying very still on the floor up ahead of me; I sprint towards it. Rain; I dive to my knees, cupping his face in my hands.

"What happened?" I asked, although I already knew. Rain's grey coat is soaked in blood from a wound in his gut. A tearing sensation rips through my chest; Rain lifts his hand and strokes the scared side of my cheek.

"Go, he's coming to g-get you." Rain mutters, he flinches like talking hurt him.

"No, I won't go; I can't just leave you here." I unzip Rains coat and slowly peel it of his shoulders, the cuts deep very deep. It stretches from his hip bone to his bellybutton, a river of red and pain. My stomach churns and I think I'm going to throw up but I can't, I have to help Rain. I take of my coat and t-shirt, stuffing my blue tank top I stole from my room in the Capitol against his cut; I quickly put my other clothes on. Rain try's to knock my hand away but his attempt is so weak I want to cry.

"D-don't, Cleo, I h-have to die. Y-you have to g-go and w-win..." I shake my head furiously, I know I should go but I can't, I simply can't tear myself away from Rain. Blood soaks my t-shirt, dripping on my hand. I press it in harder, trying to stop the steady flow.

"Please, please." I cry out, ripping of my boots and putting socks over his cut. Rain's body jerks underneath me; he lifts up my head with a weak hand so I'm forced to look at him.

"S-stop, right n-now Cleo-"

"-Don't tell me what to do, I'm the leader in our alliance, remember-"

"-D-dandy won't wait f-forever, h-he's coming f-for you." He takes a deep breath, clenching his fist in pain. "I promised t-to make you win, did I k-keep my promise?" My heart shatters into million pieces and I can't help the painful cry that erupts from my chest. He's going to die and his last words are if he kept a stupid promise to me, like that matters in the slightest!

"Rain, you kept your promise more than enough times." Rain gives me a weak smile and closes his blue eyes.

"Rain, Rain. Don't you dare! Don't you dare leave me on my own." I shake his body, sobbing. "Rain, I need you. You can't do this to me, Rain!" I see his eyes flickering, as if he wants to open them but he simply can't. I bend down, kissing his lips softly, I feel Rain's eyes hand gently brush leg and he kisses me back. I break away, glancing down at him. He smiles, eyes still shut.

"I-I love you C-Cleo, m-make sure you w-win."

"Rain, please, don't leave me." I grip his coat tighter in my fist in pure desperation. Rain's painful breathing slows down and I know I've lost him. I scream in pain, placing my head on his still chest.

"No, please no." I clench my fist, pounding the floor in frustration. I glare up at the sky, my hazel eyes filling with pure fury and anger. But who am I angry at, the Capitol for creating this hideous entertainment, the Game makers for placing Rain in here, Dandy for stabbing him? I'm angry at them all, I hate them all. I know exactly how Magnolia felt because that's exactly what I feel now. Like I could simply blow up, or run around stabbing every single Capitol clown I could find. I want to stay here forever, to cry until there are no more tears left, but I can't. I have my district partner to kill. I stand up, brushing my hair back out of my face and pick up my knife. I take one last look at Rain's still body and I know that image will burn my mind until the day I die, and that might be today. I track through the forest, stomping my feet so Dandy knows I' m here. Let him come, I'm ready. I walk right out of the forest, surprised to see all the snow has melted and a thin trickle of water is falling down the mountain like a waterfall. Pretty.

"Dandy you little coward, come out and face me!" I scream, my voice bouncing of the mountains, no one appears. "Don't you want to play anymore?" I scan the horizon watching out for his familiar figure.

"By the way, I killed your girlfriend, she was pathetic. Fell out of tree and I quickly finished her off!" I hear a lighthearted laugh from the trees, Dandy stalks from the shadows.

"Thanks for that Cleopatra, I really didn't want to kill Pearl, she grew an attachment."

"How sweet, Dandy." I say, my voice sounds weird, light and happy with a sharp edge of anger. I like it, it makes me sound frightening.

"Oh dear, your poor leg and your face, did big nasty Felix do that?"

"Yeah he did, and big nasty Felix also got a branch in his face and died, shame." Dandy smiles and walks towards me, a dagger clutched in his tanned hand.

"Who'd have thought it, you and me the final two? Quite exciting, at least you know your petty brothers will be fed when I go back home. Then again, we all know what Kovu's like, no doubt he'll attack Peacekeepers in anger and get himself killed." I scream in anger, lunging towards him, my knife outstretched. I cut Dandy's arm but he knocks me away like I weigh nothing. I smash my head on the floor, slightly dazed; I stumble back up on my feet. Dandy chuckles and walks towards me with a wild glint in his cold hazel eyes.

"Shame, I thought you'd be more of a challenge, no one in this arena was fierce enough for my liking."

"Except Titus, the only reason you didn't come and track me down was because you knew Titus was in the forest and you didn't want to become his supper!" Dandy's eyes glint with shock; he didn't know what Titus had done. Dandy snarls, like a wild cat, and pushes me to the floor. I roll away from his dagger, leaping to my feet. I slam a kick in his chest which knocks him to the floor. My knife drops down on Dandy's foot; he whimpers and kicks me away with a boot so hard I hit my back on a tree which sends a sacksful of slush down on my head. Dandy runs at me, before I can move his dagger sinks into my shoulder, I scream. My fist hits the side of Dandy's chin and I stumble to my feet, racing for the higher slopes. Dandy's thunderous footsteps follow me as I leap from boulder to boulder up the mountain side. I stop, turning to face him and slash my knife at his throat; it misses and cuts his cheeks.

"Ha-ha, we can be scar buddies now!" Dandy giggles, jumping at me. I lose my balance on the wet rocks and roll downhill; rocks fly up and smash my face, cutting my nose, chin, mouth and everything else they can touch. My body slams into a boulder and I lay crumpled on the floor. My head is spinning and my head feels like someone is hammering it with a mace. I'm haven't got a hope in winning. A sharp object slices through my hip, I boot Dandy's arm away and his dagger slides down the slope, clattering to the floor below. I stand up, clutching the rock for a something stable to cling onto. Dandy smiles,

"I have to admit, you have guts, hey maybe I can pull them out?"

"You insane, you're a complete psychopath." I laugh, clutching the boulder.

"You're the one laughing your head off, Cleopatra, I think we're both as crazy as each other." Dandy's strong hands wrap around my neck and he lifts me into the air. I clutch at his hands, trying to pry them open but I'm far too weak. I wrap my legs around Dandy's waist to stop myself dangling; I scratch at his hands with my long finger nails without any success. Dandy try's to push me away from him but I refuse to move my legs. I cling onto him with all my strength, like a monkey would its mother. I get a firm hold on my knife and sink it into his gut, he releases me instantly. I fall to the floor, bashing my hip. I quickly roll away as Dandy lifts his foot to kick me. I crawl on my hands and knees away from the steep slope, a trail of blood following me. I haven't got much longer. Black dots cloud my vision, but I know if I succumb to the darkness that's inviting me in then I'm dead. Something heavy bashes into my rib cage and I hear an evil sounding crunch. I take a sharp intake of breath as pain shoots up and down my side, clutching my ribs gently; I turn to stare at Dandy. He doesn't look to good either, a thick flow of blood is pouring from his gut and trailing down his body, his cheek is a dark scarlet red and his face is covered in small scratches, probably caused my vicious nails. Dandy's swings a rock at me again, but I drop to the floor. Kicking, I knock Dandy's feet from underneath him. I leap forward, stabbing my knife down into his chest. Dandy blocks it with his hand and my knife goes straight through. Here comes my breakfast. I throw up all over Dandy's chest, which repulses him enough to make him stumble away without attacking me. I collapse on the floor, my energy draining away in the form of blood that pools around me. Dandy towers over me, a rock gripped tightly in his fist. I close my eyes, waiting for the blow. But no- I can't just let him kill me, I made a promise and just like Rain, I have to keep it. Just as the rock flies for my head I roll away. My ribs scream in pain and my head feels like it's going to explode. I think of Kovu and Diego, watching me now locked in a deadly dance with Dandy, they will be cheering me on, hoping I win. An image of Rain flutters across my closed eye lids his begging, dying face, pleading for me to win. From somewhere deep inside I summon my last burst of energy. I slash a wide curve with my knife, slicing Dandy's left leg. He kicks at me but I hardly feel the blow, nothing can hurt more anymore, I'm too damaged both physically and mentally. I use Dandy as my support to stumble to my feet, he pushes my away but I'm holding his coat to hard and we both tumble to the floor. I wrap my legs and arms around Dandy's body and start to roll. He has no choice but to fall with me as he desperately try's to smash my head with his rock. I close my eyes begging anyone or anything to help me, to let me fulfill my almost suicidal goal. I hear a clattering sound and I know I've dropped my knife. I slam my body against Dandy's, trying to keep up the momentum of our roll. The ground starts to slope downwards. Dandy's kicks at my chest, my hip, my ribs, trying to get me off him but I'm holding on to tight. Not long now, not long now. We roll faster and faster, suddenly I release my weight and launch myself away from him, I stretch my hands outwards and hold onto a boulder. Dandy try's to grab hold of a scraggly tree but it tears away from its roots leaving Dandy rolling faster and faster down the hill, rocks flying away from him and clattering down the mountainside. I cling onto my boulder for dear life, my heart racing and the pain in my ribs hurts so much I can barely breathe. I try to stay awake but it's too hard and I'm too tired, I close my eyes letting myself slip into the darkness. Not before I hear the sound of thunder rattling across the mountain tops.


	17. Chapter 17

I slipped out of the darkness; I could feel a harsh light penetrating through my closed eye lids. Where was I? Was I dead? No, I don't think I was dead; my whole body ached too much to be in some form of heaven. My face felt sticky, like a thick honey had been smeared all over my skin. I wriggled my fingers; they were under something soft and warm. I moved my leg, the exact same feeling. Someone gasped beside me and scurried away, an angel perhaps? I've never believed in anything like heaven or hell, or even god for that matter, but I feel peaceful here. I opened my eyes slowly, gently adjusting to the too bright light hovering directly over me; I looked around the room. I wasn't dead, and if I was I must have been a sinner because I'm in a room in the Capitol. I'm in my room, the same one I had before the games, except there's a few monitors and tables set up with needles and gels. A shiver runs down my spine, someone would have injected me with those. The door to my room opens and Zion steps in. Great, I think I'd rather be dead than meet him again.

"So, you're alive?" Zion said his voice was harsh and snappy.

"I guess so," I wheezed. Another figure walked in after Zion, short black hair and warm dark blue eyes, James.

"You won! You killed him, oh happy days!" James rushed over to me and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. I winced at his touch, my body felt like I'd been hit by a Capitol train. James noticed my reaction and quickly removed his hand.

"Do I look as fragile as I feel?" I murmured,

"Probably worse, you were unconscious for three days, the Capitol were having kittens thinking they wouldn't have a victor!" I couldn't help smiling, but I quickly stopped because it hurt my cheeks.

"I'm starving, why have I not been fed?" James chuckled; his laughter was so light-like he really was glad I had won.

"You're on rations still, so don't think you can go helping yourself to bread and honey." Zion snapped James rolled his eyes.

"You're just annoyed you're precious Dandy fell of a mountain and died." James suddenly smiled, remembering something amusing, "And he called you a freaky stalker to all his little friends, or should I say slaves because that's what they all were." Zion's piggy eyes smoldered with anger and he stormed out the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What do you mean by slaves?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with difficulty.

"Yep, slaves. Dandy was using everyone in that Career pack to do what he wanted, that attack in the woods, the one were Felix died, was to kill you and Rain, especially Rain. Dandy was scared of him after he helped you get away from the launching pads, nearly knocked Dandy out he did, hilarious!" A stabbing sensation ripped through my chest and I know it wasn't from my injuries. Rain, he was gone and I would never see him again. I closed my eyes, remembering the kiss we shared just before he died, I only wish we could have enjoyed it sooner-no, what I actually wish is that he was still alive, I miss him already and I've only just woken up.

"Rain nearly knocked Dandy out, how?"

"He pulled him away from you and punched him right underneath the chin, that's a deadly blow you know, unfortunately Rain missed the vital artery and Dandy didn't die." I smiled, it would have been nice if Dandy did die straight away, but then again, would it? What would have happened when it came down to just Rain and I? I couldn't have killed him and he wouldn't have killed me. Perhaps it was a blessing we never had to face that situation? Thinking about Rain made my eyes sting and before I knew it, salty tears were falling down my cheek and dropping onto the soft feather pillow beneath my head. James sighed, noticing the fat tears rolling down my cheek.

"I'm really sorry about your _friends; _I know how tough it is to lose them, especially considering how close you were." I couldn't help notice how James never mentioned Rain, instead referring to him as a friend. He was a lot more than that to me. I opened my eyes, looking at James who seemed to be remembering a torture of his own; his blue eyes were cloudy and distant, as if he was holding his tears in. James smiled pitifully down at me,

"Your interview will be tomorrow afternoon; we'll wait until later to see if you're up to watching the replay of the games tonight, just to be prepared for Caesars questions."

"If I do my interview today will I be able to go home sooner? I think I'm feeling up to doing some talking, besides, I just want to leave this hell hole."

"I don't know; the Capitol is interested in you, when weakling wins, it really gets people talking. And I really don't think you're up to much today, your look hideous." James gave me a weak smile and left the room. I stared up at the ceiling, did anyone notice there was a thin black crack running right down the middle; it could collapse on me-their precious victor. Maybe that would be my way out, to die; I really was dreading that interview because I know Caesar would ask me tough questions. But as Diego always says, get the worst over with and you can savor the best. I really am looking forward to listening to Diego's words of wisdom again; I've missed them more than I thought I would. As I was deep in thought, the door to my room opened. I look up and saw Pine, her blue eyes shining with pride.

"Pine!" I squealed, struggling to sit up and embrace her. Pine smiled, walking up to me and giving me a warm, but gentle hug.

"You did it, oh my, you did it. You came back, I watched every minute you were in there, and I saved up some money. That third knife was from me, personally." The knife I had used to kill people was sent from Pine, wow, my private mentor helped me more than I thought.

"Thank-you so much, that would have cost a fortune though. I know sponsor money doesn't go very far one the final few days of the games." Pine grinned at me,

"You're worth it. That final battle with Dandy was so nerve raking, I thought for a second he might win. But he didn't, everyone shouldn't have underestimated you, you're amazing." I smiled, wincing slightly at the pain in my cheek. Pine stood up, gently smoothing my hair.

"You need rest little one,"

"But I've rested for ages." Pine gave me a stern but gentle look.

"When I say you need rest, I mean it. Caesar will not go easy on you and you need mental strength as well as physical, good bye for now little one." Pine turned to leave the room, before glancing back at me. "And congratulations, Cleo Ivy, your pictures in the hallway now, just put up before." I frowned

"Pine, when are those pictures actually taken?" Pine smiled, her blue eyes glittering mischievously,

"The moment you win." My blood ran cold and a feeling of dread washed over me.

"The moment I won I was unconscious and bleeding to death, right?" Pine giggled

"Precisely; that'll be there forever you know, and I wouldn't advise looking at it, it's not exactly your best picture. Sleep well Cleo."

…

Dave smiled, brushing the last bit of hair in place. I stared at myself in the mirror, my scar had gone completely and my skin glimmered, I looked so fake I wanted to rub it all off and go and watch the replay covered in mud. I even considered cutting my cheek to bring back the scar but that would have been stupid, I didn't need any physical reminders of the games. I had asked Dave how he had removed all of my bruises and scratches, he said the Capitol injected my skin with a healing property and reopened my wounds, the cuts closed themselves up again in a matter of minutes and there was no scaring. I had to admit, that was pretty cool, even though needles had been used to insert the healing agent. I really hate needles; they look too much like knives for my liking.

"Tomorrow night you can wear my pretty dress, oh it's so beautiful! I was really happy you lived just so I could show them all what I can do, I am, after all, a magician with fabric." My stylist chuckled to himself, as least he was happy because I sure as hell wasn't. He took my hand and led me towards a dark room. My heart started racing and I gripped my stylists hand as hard as I could. Dave smiled in the darkness; surprised I had touched him because before the games I had found him repulsive, not much could repulse my now after all I've been through. I could feel fear and panic rise inside of me as I heard the crowd cheer, my legs started to buckle and if it wasn't for Dave I would have fallen over and not gotten back up again.

"Good luck," Dave murmurs and he pushes me onto a plate that rises up onto the stage. I open my eyes slowly, masses of people are cheering, their bright wigs blinding. A warm hand touches my shoulder and leads me to a plush red chair. Caesar grins, pointing at me and clapping, he flops down into his seat with a loud sigh.

"Who'd have ever guessed that you, Cleopatra Ivy, would be sitting here today." It shouldn't have but that comment stung,

"I have been in that hell hole for what 7-8 days? And you still can't be bothered learning my name properly! Did you hear anyone in that arena call me Cleopatra, did Rain, Magnolia or Rodial? No they didn't. You have put me through hell, the least you can do is call me my proper name!" I snap my voice much louder than I intended. I feel my cheeks smolder as I look at Caesar's stunned face, I don't know where that reaction came from, but all of a sudden, I feel anger clawing at my stomach, making me want to scream and punch someone.

"Oh-I-I'm very sorry, Cleo. Well, erm, I guess we don't need to ask what your experience was like as we got it all in that brief sentence-"

"No you didn't. You have no idea and count yourself lucky for that. What all the other victors have told you was utter rubbish. That thing is the worst place possible, think of hell and you still wouldn't be close. I lost my three best friends in there and for what? So you could have your entertainment, is it really that fun watching kid's turn insane and kill each other in the most disgusting way possible?" The audience is shocked into silence, "I bet you wish Dandy was here, but he wouldn't be any different. That kid was already messed up but he'd be a complete psychopath now, every victor you have are never the same again. Drink, drugs, sex, they use it all to hide how much the arena has mucked them up, you have destroyed so many kids life's! No, you don't have a clue what my experience was like and it won't stop when the camera stops rolling, I'm going to be like this for life. So thank-you very much, I am clearly going to need a lot of mental help." I sink into my chair, I feel as if a million tons of weight has been lifted of my shoulders, no victor has ever done that before and it needed to be said. In the distance I can hear someone clapping; I turn to see James nodding at me, his blue eyes reflecting pain. A red haired woman joins in clapping, then another person and another. Until all the former victors are nodding and smiling at me, it's a small reaction but it makes me feel proud, I was right to say that. Caesar coughs loudly and the clapping stops,

"These are this year's highlights," I could have started a whole new rant purely on the fact he used the word highlight but I decided against it. A TV screen flickered to life and the footage started playing. It first showed the reaping's, Felix jumping up to volunteer, the girl from three screaming for her Mum, a small girl from 6 sobbing her heart out on stage. Then it showed me. For the first time I actually saw what happened, Kovu screaming for someone to volunteer, a peacekeeper takes his arm and mouths for him to calm down, Kovu knocks him away, shouting something horrible at him. A peacekeeper comes up behind Kovu and punches him right across the face, he hardly did anything wrong and yet he got punished for it. I tuned out by time the interviews came on, much more interested in the wriggling ropes in a woman's hair which I later realized were live snakes. The screen started counting down and I knew it was showing when the games actually started, I turned my attention back to the footage and I saw myself running away from Dandy. Rain knocked into him pulling him away from me, the camera stayed on them both and I leaned forward, interested. Rain punched Dandy in the chin and although Dandy is much bigger he's stunned. Rain wriggled away from Dandy's reach and kicked him straight in the face before pelting away into the trees; Dandy stumbled out of the way of the fighting and barks one clear order at Felix. Kill him. The camera focuses between three main characters after that brawl, Rain and I, the Careers and the twins. They were watching us much more than we realized, always close enough to kill us whenever they decided.

The next few hours were a blur of memories I want to forget, so many and so much. They played the fight between Rain and Dandy out in full, I turned away. Making sure utter disgust was spread across my face, although inside I felt myself tearing apart; the crowd murmured awkwardly. Finally, after what seemed forever, the screen faded to black. Caesar turned back to look at me,

"Cleop-Cleo Ivy, the 71st Hunger Games winner!" He stood up and quickly shook my hand then I was lead of stage by Dave.


	18. Chapter 18

I rubbed the silky material of my dress between my thumb and finger. I was sitting on a plush red chair in a small room with lots of cameras all blinking and flashing, waiting to capture every facial expression I could possible give them. While Caesar was waiting for his queue to interview me, he smiling into a small pocket mirror and adjusting his outrageous wig. My dress was quite pretty I suppose, it was loose fitting and made of a silky material that came up to my knees in a light pink colour; lots of lace and velvet, the perfect dress for a princess wannabe. My sore feet had been stuffed into cute little ballerina pumps, studded with glittering diamonds, I wasn't sure if they were real or fake. My hair had been curled and waved around my shoulders in a beautiful ripple; a shiny silver tiara was placed in the middle of my forehead

"Five seconds!" I voice called, "Four, Three, Two, and One you're live!"

"Welcome viewers of Panem, the moment you have all be waiting for, the interview with our newest victor, Cleo." I smiled, at least he remembered what I like to be called, then again, I don't think anyone would forget that in a hurry. I had received quite a lot of grief from Zion after he watched my other interview with Caesar, oh well, I enjoyed annoying Zion it was great entertainment. Maybe next year they'd steal District children and force them to make Zion angry on live TV that would be much more fun to watch. Caesar looked down at his notes,

"So...How are you feeling?" I bit my lip, Caesar's dark eyes look wary and I knew he didn't want a rant. Well, I felt like being nice today, after all, I would be going home soon.

"A lot better, but still a little shaken up." Caesar let out a small sigh,

"I'm not surprised, the people of the Capitol are buzzing about the final showdown with you and Dandy it was quite something." I sat up straighter in my chair,

"Well, I'm glad I put up a good show."

"You did, but what I want to know is how you thought of your brilliant plan? Getting Dandy to roll down that slope and break his neck was really quite something; you could have died in the process."

"Well, it feels like I did. I knew that I wasn't going to win with brute force, I was bleeding too much and my ribs were, well...beyond pain. I knew if anyone fell down that slope they would get badly hurt I suppose I caught him of guard and he simply fell." Caesar gave me a big smile, a thanks-for-not-biting-my-head-off smile. I gave him a small nod to show I understood to watch my lip.

"I think I should read out the intensive list of your injuries," Caesar cleared his throat and looked down at his notes again. "Four broken ribs, two large wounds, five minor broken fingers, small fracture to your arm-" Arm? I don't even remember that hurting! "Small cracks in your skull, and lots and lots of bruises. It's a wonder your still alive, Cleo! A bizarre question, but which injury hurt the most?"

"Erm...My ribs and my head, they really, really hurt, you should count yourself lucky you never got smashed in the ribs with a rock!" Caesar laughed,

"I should count myself lucky!" The people behind the camera chuckled to themselves,

"Well, I can honestly say I was shocked when I saw you in the arena. I never would have suspected you being a weak girl was nothing but an act but of course it was, you ran in and grabbed a knife when Dandy was after you, got trapped in a tree with dangerous people around, nearly killed by an avalanche and killed three people!" I smiled, flicking a curl of brown hair over my shoulder.

"I just had to stay alive, that was my main goal and...Well...Here I am now."

"What was the scariest moment in the arena for you?"

"Oh tricky question, definitely between getting stuck to close to Titus and when I thought Rain had died." Something tore through my chest and I felt my heart shatter. Rain, the memories still stung.

"You were very close to Rain in the arena-"More than you even know Caesar, "-do you want to say anything on the subject?" Caesar asked, he reached out and touched my shoulder, to my surprise it was comforting like a Grandpa.

"I'd rather not talk about Rain, or Magnolia or Rodial, it's far too painful. They were all my friends, they saved my life and without them I wouldn't be here." Caesar patted my shoulder gently,

"I understand we don't need to talk about them. But we do need to talk about how cunning you are stealing clothes from us how dare you!" Caesar chuckled, his voice light and joking. I'd forgotten all about that…

"Well, I knew it was going to be cold and either way you would get the clothes back!" Caesar laughed even louder,

"Well, there we have it Panem, your victor Cleo Ivy from District 7!" I stood up and shook Caesars hand; he reached forward and whispered something into my ear.

"I know you're hurting, I really do understand that, but thank-you for not saying anything negative, I appreciate it. You know when you flip out on camera; I get the blame from President Snow."

"I was upset and I know I shouldn't have said anything, sorry for making things so awkward." I whispered back, Caesar smiled at me one last time and he left the room.

…

I stared out of the train window, watching endless lines of trees and fields race by. In just a few minutes I'd be home. I had spent two days out here, watching Panem go by. It was strange, traveling past each District and spotting people waving at me, I would have thought they'd all hate me because their children weren't coming home. Already I could smell pine trees and smoke from the woods; I couldn't help the smile dancing on my chapped lips. District 7 will be proud of me, it's been so long since we had a victor and everyone will have full stomachs for a while. The door to the train opened and James sat down beside me.

"It's a bit dangerous being out here, the wind could knock you onto the track." I couldn't help but grin,

"It's peaceful." James nodded and he stared at the scenery, the breeze ruffling his black hair into a mess. "I was proud watching you, I really am glad you came home, Cleo." I turned to face my mentor, who was still staring out at the distance.

"Thanks...For everything. I might have died if it wasn't for you."

"You think you would have died without everyone, that's all you seem to say 'you saved my life' but I think you would have been fine on your own. You're stronger than you think and that's how I know you'll get through...This."

"I don't think I will..." I mumbled, looking at the metallic floor of the train.

"You will, I promise you will. The same thing happened to me." I looked up from the ground, staring right at James. He had told me very little about the games he was in. He turned to look at me, his blue eyes shrouded in pain.

"I become allies with a girl far weaker than me. We helped each other out and no one bothered to come and find us as we hardly existed, two weak people no-one paid any attention too. My ally wasn't very well though, she was a lot weaker than me and I watched her die of cold and hunger. It was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do." James turned away from me, his voice deep like he was trying his hardest not to cry. "She was in a lot of pain, she begged me to kill her, to stop her hurting but I couldn't, I just couldn't do it. She died the next day after a night of hell and I beat myself up about it every day, how I caused her so much pain and I could have ended it quickly. I managed to get over that so I know you'll get over Rain, he died quickly and he wanted you to win. He was going to die so you could win." My chest felt heavy and I found my heart tearing itself up again, would that feeling ever fade away, would I ever be able to hear Rain's name without my heart feeling like it was being torn to shreds by long claws? James stared down at his hands,

"There's still blood on them, there's always blood on my hands." I looked at them, shocked, but only saw pink flesh. No blood. "They mess everyone up. Lucky for me, booze make my head hurt, drugs are a waste of money and sex isn't fun if you don't love the person. I cope by pretending none of it happened, I pretended to be something I'm not in the arena and I've been acting ever since. I think my method might help you out. After all, next year will be a tough one."

"Huh, what do you mean?" I asked James bit his lip.

"I thought you knew. Cleo, you will have to be a mentor next year. You're the only female victor District 7 has, well, after Johanna but she refuses to do anything for the Capitol." My heart sunk to my stomach, I would have to train children like myself up to inevitably die in the arena. I don't think I could do that. The Capitol never ends the torture do they?

"Hey, it's alright Cleo, I'm sure you'll be alright. After all, I am, sort of.

"I hope so. You know, me and you are alike, we both act and we both lost people we loved in there." James flinched when I said the world love and I somehow guessed it wasn't about his own ally. "We'll be good messed up neighbors." I chuckled, James burst out laughing.

"Yeah we will, we'll be the best messed up neighbors Panem has ever had the horror to meet." I smiled and stared at the distance. Suddenly my heart started to pound. I could hear them. I jumped to my feet, James standing up right beside me. The train slowed down through a tunnel and rolled to a gentle stop on a platform. A breath caught in the back of my throat. There was a mob. Hundreds upon thousands of people had gathered on the platform, screaming my name and waving scraps of material like flags.

"You're their hero." James muttered, leaping of the train onto the platform, I jumped after him. A tall woman with braided blond hair rushed up to me, giving me a massive hug.

"You did it, you won!" She gushed, I had no idea who this woman was, but her praise made me smile.

"CLEO!" A voice shouted from the crowd, I looked up although I already knew who it would be. Kovu barged past gathered families, Diego scurrying after him. I ran towards them both, and got pulled up into a massive hug by Kovu. I wrapped my arms around his wide, muscular shoulders and started weeping. He hushed me, gripping me tighter.

"I missed you so much," he whispered in my hair, I nodded, tears dropping onto his shoulder. Kovu released me and Diego stepped forward, giving me a warm embrace. I froze; I had never _ever _been hugged by Diego. It felt so unfamiliar, but at the same time, his arms felt like one of the most natural places to be. I smiled, hugging him tightly back.

"You have no idea how much we missed you, we watched you in the games every time we could. Kovu and I got into a lot of trouble pretending to be sick so we could go and watch you." Kovu looked away from me, ashamed. I scowled at him.

"How much time do you owe them?"

"Not important." I decided not to argue, I'd had enough of conflicts.

"You were amazing out there, Cleo. I knew you were acting straight away, but still, you made me cry when you spoke about us." Diego muttered, looking down at his feet.

"Come on you lot, we need to show you your new home." James gently touched my elbow and led me through the crowd. Kovu grabbed my right hand and Diego held my left, gently squeezing my fingers. I smiled; things wouldn't be the same as they were, I'd always be hurting over Rain, Magnolia and Rodial and I will have to mentor other unfortunate children like myself. But maybe things won't be as bad as I think. I won't ever be in the games again and nor will Kovu or Diego, we will have enough food and a warm safe home. Perhaps I should be slightly thankful to the Capitol for giving me a few luxuries as compensation to the weak mental state they left me in. I glanced back over my shoulder at the other people in District 7, they were all smiling, cheering and celebrating, at least for a while my District will be happy, until next year and a new batch of tribute will be served up to the Game Makers for more fun and games. I'll be counting the days down with dread.


	19. Coming Soon! (ACTUALLY HERE NOW)

Coming Soon:

The sequel to Cleos story.

3 years later and two victors have been reaped who will change everything. Their names? Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melark.

Cleo and James have been picked to mentor the new District 7 tributes, but with tensions running high and the ever growing rumour of District 13 circulating like wildfire, what thrilling decision with Cleo make in the heat of the moment? And, will the people she love stand with her until the very end?

Message me for exclusive details and keep your eyes peeled for:

Don't tell anyone

Okay, just an update everyone. After procastinating for about 8 months I have FINALLY written the sequel. Two chapters are uploaded for Don't say Anything, the sequel to Cleo's story. It's rated T because STUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFF. I've enjoyed writing in her narrative again and I'd really appreciate it if you could all go and read it and leave me a review. Thank you all for your continued support with Cleo, I really appreciate it. Thank you!


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